



Class 

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THE STANDARD BEARERS.— OFFICIAL EDITION. 



— THE — 

AUTHORIZED PICTORIAL LIVES 

OF 

STEPHEN GROVER CLEVELAND 



AND 

THOMAS ANDREWS HENDRICKS. 

BEING 

A. FULL AND AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE OF THE ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE OF THE GREAT 
REFORM governor; SUDDEN ORPHANAGE AND EARLY STRUGGLES; UNCONQUERABLE 
PURPOSE IN GAINING AN EDUCATION AND TRIUMPHING OVER POVERTY, COLD 
AND hardship; BOY-CLERK IN VILLAGE STORE AND ERRAND-BOY IN LAW 
office; SUCCESSIVE TRIUMPHS AS A LAVvTER AND PUBLIC OFFICER; 
THE YOUNG DISTRICT ATTORNEY AND FEARLESS SHERIFF; BRIL- 
LIANT AND STAINLESS ADMINISTRATION AS MAYOR OF 
BUFFALO AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OP THE EMPIRE 
state; personal CHARACTERISTICS, etc., ETC. 
AND 

A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 
HON. THOS. A. HENDRICKS, 

WITH 

HUNDREDS OF PMRSONAL ANECDOTES, ETC., AND A GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE 

GREAT CONVENTION OF 1S34, 

ALSO A COMPLETE SUMMARY OP AMERICAN POLITICS FOR 120 YEARS, AVITH ANALYSIS OF 

PARTIES, LEADING MEASURES, ETC., STATEMENT OF POPULAR AND ELECTORAL 

VOTES, ETC., ETC.— AN INVALUABLE RECORD FOR EVERY VOTER. 

BY 

COL. KRANK: TTRIPLKTTr, ' 

n 

Author of "Conquering the Wilderness;" "Sketches of Western Adventure;" "Prospecting, 

Assaying and Mining;" "The Enchanted Isle;" The Doctor's Daughter;" 
"The World's Religions, or Creeds of every Clime," etc., etc. 



NEW SrtEL PLATE PORTRAITS AND FINE ENGRAVINGS FROM ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS, ETC. 



Ne%v York and St. ILouis: 

N. D. THOMPSON & CO., r-U:B:i^i3HERS. 
: 1884. ^ 

f SEP 3 m^rrp^ 



VI LITE AND rUBLTC SERVICES OF 

conflict, liberty, equality and human rights, and upon its 
ruins would arise the trebly-venomed curses of fraud, cor- 
ruption and monopoly. Thank heaven that while Ameri- 
can citizens still carry in their veins a trace of the heroic 
ichor of their liberty-loving ancestors, the eagles of De- 
mocracy must ever rise above all storms of passion and preju- 
dice to point the way to that glorious victory that ends in 
human happiness achieved through human liberty I 

Nowhere in the history of political parties do we behold 
such consistency and vitality as that displayed by this party. 
Aiming always at the greatest good of the greatest number 
— the very essence of a republican form of government — 
it has ever been the uncompromising foe of corruption, 
monopoly and oppression. Nowhere in its annals do we 
see the gigantic schemes of fraud and villainy that have 
cursed the sway of its antagonists. Here we have no Credit 
Mobil iers soiling the official robes of Congressmen, Senators, 
judges and even higher officials ; here, too, we behold no 
whiskey rings smirching with their unhallowed stains even 
the curule chair of the Presidency itself. 

In the records of Democracy we find no railway grants, 
giving of the lands of the American people in millions upon 
millions of acres to corporations, which if not finally curbed, 
must eventually subvert the rights of all free men. Search 
as we may, we find no Star-route thievery swindling the 
people yearly out of millions of dollars, ending in a farcical 
trial that turns the rascals loose to hatch new schemes of 
villainy by which money may be wrung, not from bond- 
holders and railway magnates, but from 

*'A BOLD YE03IANRY, THEIR COUNTRY'S PRIDE," 

the bone and sinew of the nation, the men who in honest, hon- 
orable toil gain their daily bread by the sweat of their brows. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. VII 

Under Democratic rule our flag ^floated over countless 
vessels, in every sea, from the scorching equator to the frozen 
poles ; to-day it is an unknown emblem, save upon the 
masts of a few decaying atid antiquated men-of-war, the jest 
of other nations and inferior in every respect to the cruisers 
of that fifth-rate nation, Spain. And yet, despite this dis- 
graceful state of affairs, millions of dollars have been ex- 
pended yearly upon this pretense of a navy ; this miser- 
able collection of rotting hulks, a scorn and a by-word to 
every civilized power. 

Under the rule or misrule of radicalism we see the Dorseys, 
Robesons and countless other officials going into office poor, 
and with a wonderful economy^ that plain men call theft, 
emerging after four years w^th millions of dollars. Truly a 
miraculous thrift that can transmute a four years' five thou- 
sand dollar salary into from three to five millions of dollars. 
Shameless corruption, open bribery and unblushing theft 
have become the rule and not the exception amongst the of- 
ficials of the Radical regime. A single twelve months of 
their peculations exceeds the entire amount of losses that 
the government sustained in nearly three quarters of a 
century of Democratic government. 

Is not this subject worthy of the consideration of all 
honest men, especially when all know that it is the poor 
man and the citizen of moderate means whose labor is taxed 
that these thieves and rascals may fatten at their expense? 
What is party prejudice when thrown into the balance 
against national and individual prosperity? What man of 
sense will vote for a party which no longer represents a 
principle, but is a mere idle sound, an organization held to- 
gether only by the foul cohesion of public plunder ; the 
Bradeys, Dorseys, Kelloggs, Robesons and other banditti 



VIII LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

leagued together for the pillage of the public treasury? If 
this summing up of the pretentions of radicalism was alto- 
gether Democratic, we might doubt it as the malicious 
charge of an adversary, but how can we doubt it when the 
very founders of Republicanism and its grandest exponent, 
Wendell Phillips, testify to its emptiness and its utter 
corruption. 

Its temporary mission accomplished, Eepublicanism van- 
ished, and in its stead a specious phantom has arisen, a 
'*hollow mockery, an unreal shadow," behind whose smil- 
ing and deceitful mask is hidden the ghastly, learing death's 
head of piracy and fraud. In 1876 these bandits stole the 
Presidency, and in defiance of the will of the American 
people placed in the nation's highest office a creature whom 
they themselves now denounce as a paltry fraud. This out- 
rage upon the nation and upon even its meanest citizen 
was perpetrated by the party that had once numbered in 
its ranks such men as Horace Greeley, Charles Sumner and 
Wendell Phillips ; men pure, even if mistaken. 

This is the party which has squandered the fertile lands 
belonging to the American people, by millions of acres ; 
which has filched from the national treasury billions of dol- 
lars ; which has made bribery the main part of its political 
machinery, and has banished brains and decency ; which 
has sullied the judicial ermine by placing upon the bench of 
the Supreme Court the bribed tools of giant corporations 
and monopolies ; which has for the benefit of the wealthy 
few, made special legislation by which the poor might be 
still further impoverished and the weak ground into the dust 
that illegal monopolies might be built up. 

This is the party that, when by the aid of its Dorseys, 
Bradys, Kelloggs, Spencers and other thieves, it had sue- 



CLEVELAND AND ITEXDT^TCKS. IX 

ceeded in seating its candidate in 1880, furnished the 
fanatical tool by which he was assassinated. There is no 
infamy of theft, bribery, fraud, perjury and murder of 
which it has not been guilty. 

"Look on this picture and on this!" 

Opposed to this league of tyranny, fraud and corruption, 
we find a party against which no charge of infamy can be 
truly made. For nearly three-fourths of a century entrust- 
ed with the reins of government, in its ranks developed no 
Dorseys, Kelloggs, Colfaxes, nor Guiteaus. Under its ad- 
ministration political malfeasance in office was unknown, 
there was no squandering of the public domain; no special 
or class legislation; no perjured officials banded with thiev- 
ing contractors ; no Supreme Judges foisted into their po- 
sitions by railway monopolists of the Jay Gould class. 

Our flag floated in every sea and carried with it a whole- 
some fear and respect; there was no seizing and murder of 
our seamen by such paltry nationalities as that of Spain ; 
there was no squandering of millions of dollars for a paper 
navy that a pet contractor and a thieving secretary might 
accumulate fortunes. There was no Credit Mobilier encirc- 
ling in its slimy folds so-called Christian statesmen whom a 
Massachusetts Congressman bought, like cattle, at so much a 
head. In lieu of these infamies there was equal justice for 
rich and poor ; there was legislation for all alike; there was 
licrht taxation for the man of moderate means as well as for 
the millionaire ; there were no favored classes ; there were 
honest administrations; there was no bribery, and the ju- 
diciary was spotless. These were but a tithe of the bless- 
ings that accompanied Democratic rule to specify all would 
be an onerous task indeed ! 



I UTE AVB PTBUrC SZEVICXS OF 

In the ensaiag contest the voter must make his choice be- 
tween these two parties; one representing the cause of cor- 
ruption, fraud, monopoly and a moneyed aristocracy ; the 
other still battling with undaunted front for equal justice 
and for human rights. The champion of the masses, De- 
mocracy stands in the political arena unconquered and un- 
conquerable. 

•Tie eicrLsJ rears of God aze hers,^ 

and though often seemingly vanquished in her struggle to 
perpetuate the principles of political freedom and the right 
of self-government, yet has her crest ever reappeared, more 
glorious from its temporary occultation, to lead the van- 
guard in the battle for ci\'il liberty. Endowed with imper- 
ishable vitalitv — ^the orift of the heaven-descended ^roddesses 
of Truth and Honesty — ^no mutation of time, or season ; 
*'the Ciinkers of a long peace," nor the dire upheval of years 
of battle and bloodshed have been able to check her onward 
progress. Guided always by an inherent principle that has 
never bowed to force or fraud, her course has ever been in 
the straight path of duty — that duty being the protection of 
the masses against the encroachment of the few, who would 
subvert all individual and national freedom. 

Like the iron veterans of the Man of Destiny, the De- 
mocracy has done noble l>attle upon many a fiercely contested 
field for the liberty of the citizen and the honor of the nation, 
and for the sake of the poor, oppressed and down trodden 
of other countries as well as our own let us hope that none of 
us may ever see the time when despair shall wring from our 
hearts the anguished cry that she has recoiled from the fierce 
fire of the battle, for in that recoil will go down in endless 
night all that is left of the Republic of our fore-fathers ; 



CLE^TILAXD AND HENDRICKS. ^1 

the constitutional rights of free men to govern themselves, 
bousfht bv a hundred hard fousfht battles from Lexington 
to Yorktown — -ind Liberty, 

••Thai: fair goddess, whose celestial charms 
Have in all ages lured the souls of men 
To noble deeds," 

abandoning an earth too base for her pure spirit, will 
ascend again into the realms of God's own glorious sunlight. 
Should that day ever come, man, crouching like a slave be- 
neath the lash of tyranny and fraud, 

'•Creeping worm-like beneath the angry heavens," 

may thank himself for his own overthrow and crawl on 
basely to an unhonored grave, the victim of his own coward- 
ice, aided by the prejudice of party and the cunning of 
rantinsr demacro^rues. 



xii ILLUSTRATIONS. 

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Grover Cleveland (Steel Plate), . _ - Frontispiece. 

House at Caldwell, New Jersey, Where Grover Cleveland was Born, - 35 

Old School House Where Grover Cleveland Attended School, - 37 
The Store Where Grover Cleveland Clerked, at Fayetteville, N. Y. - 30 

Young Cleveland— The Model Cleik, . - - _ 4;j 

Grover Cleveland and the Village Bully, - - - - 44 

Yoiuig Cleveland Saving His Enemy's Life, . - - 4(3 

Family Worship in the Home of the Clevelands, - - - 48 

The Presbyterian Church at Holland Patent, - - - 49 

Young Cleveland's Winter Home Near Buffalo, - - 53 

Shocking Corn at Mr. Allan's, ----- 55 

In the Harvest Field, ------ 59 

Old Jemmy Taylor, ------ 71 

One Who Will "Measure Up," - - _ - 72 

The Man Who Will Not "Measure Up," - - - - 73 

One Who Don't Believe in Reform, - - - - 81 

The "Machine" Politician, ------ 84 

Thomas A. Hendricks (Steel Plate), - - - - 194 

Old Home of John Hendricks in the Ligonier Valley, - - 196 

Hendricks' Home at ]\Iadison, Indiana, - - - - 198 

Thomas A. Hendricks' Happy Boyhood, _ _ _ _ 200 

The Mother of Thomas A. Hendricks at Home, - - - 202 

Ex-Governor R. B. Hubbard, of Texas — Temporary Chairman, - 335 

Colonel W. F. Vilas, of ^Visconsiu — Permanent Chairman, - 345 

Geo. Washington, _--___ ;}5i 

John Adams, - - - - _ _ _ 354 

Thomas Jefferson, _ - _ _ _ _ 350 

James Madison, - _ _ _ _ , _ 359 

James Monroe, ------- 302 

J. Q. Adams, - - - - - - - - 364 

Andrew Jackson, ------- 366 

M. VunBiuen, -._.___ 3(59 

W. II. Harrison --_____ 371 

John Tyler, -------- 373 

James K. Polk, _______ 375 

Zachary Tavlor, -__-___ 378 

Mi Hard Fillmore, -_____. 381 

Kraiiklin Pierce, _______ 383 

James Buchanan, _ - _ _ - _ _ 385 

A. Lincoln, --______ 388 

Andicw Johnson, ---____ 301 

V. S. Grant, -_____._ 394 

R. B. Hayes, _______ 397 

J. A. Giutield, --_-____ 399 

C. A. Arthur, --_____ 402 

Scone in the ChicagoConventlon, - - _ _ _ 543 

Mount Vernon, the Home of George Washington, - - 559 



CONTENTS. XIII 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 



CHAPTER I.— Grover Cleveland— His Birth and Ances- 
try — The Presbyterian Minister — The village of Caldwell — 
Removal to Fayetteville — A deathless lyric — a familiar figure 
— The soul of honesty — An old citizen's opinion— A homely 
tribute — A child of the people — handicapped with poverty — 
No favors asked — A noble determination — A thirst for knowl- 
edge — The boy's future — Becomes a clerk — The general store 
— A crude conglomeration — Multifarous duties — A walking 
encyclopedia — Fifty dollars a year — A young athlete — The 
slave of duty — Honest and faithful — Noble longings — Heroic 
resolves, . _ _ . _ - - 33-41 

CHAPTER ir.— Death of Cleveland's Father. — A desirable 
clerk — Offered extravagant wages — At scoool again — A model 
student — A healthy character — Leader and champion — 
Fighting others' battles — The village bully beaten — Saving his 
enemy's life — Cleveland's disposition described — The re- 
moval to Holland Patent — A soldier of the cross — Death of 
Cleveland's father — Grover's visit to Utica — A terrible sur- 
prise — A young stoic — A cruel message — A noble comforter — 
The family broken up — Injustice to country ministers — Fol- 
lowing Grover's fortunes — Founded upon a rock — Calumny 
and enmity — Indomitable energy — Faith and truth, - - 42-50 

CHAPTER III.— On the Road to Fortune.— Grover Cleve- 
land's next employment — Teaching the blind — In search of 
his fortune — A harmless superstition — The course of empire 
— Accomplishing his destiny— Stops at Buffalo — Visits his 
uncle — A practical man — Cleveland's determination — A situ- 
ation offered and accepted— First principles — Rogers, Bowea 
& Roger's office boy — Cataloguing cattle — Munificent rec- 
ompense — ''A fair field and no favors" — A dreary winter — 
Cleveland's indomitable courage — A contrasted destiny — 
Sybarytic tastes — The two combatants — A cheerless chamber 
— Sufferings and deprivations — The uses of adversity — A rare 
jewel — Poverty's children, _____ 51-57 

CHAPTER IV.— Successes and Reverses.— Cleveland's adap- 
tability — In the harvest field — A boy that always succeeded — 
The^ young student— How to begin— The lawyer's guide — 
Untiring application — An awkward predicament — Making 
the best of it — A hard road to travel — A timely present — A 
hard winter— Cleveland's first honor — A genial joker — Cleve- 
land appointed chief clerk— A comrade's tribute — ^Appointed 



XIV CONTENTS. 

Assistant District Attorney — Magnanimous friends — A will- 
ing worker — An incomparable otlicer — Nominated for Distiict 
Attorney — A poor politician — A sympathetie judge — Duty 
first, interest afterward — How he accepted defeat — Equal to 
either fortune — A true philosopher, - _ - 5S-G4 

CHAPTER v.— Official Life in Buffalo.— Cleveland's law 
partners — Nominated for Sheriff of Erie county — A winning 
race — A uoa-partisan administration — An era of reform — 
A new firm — Cleveland's law and politics — A broad-gauge 
man — Universally popular — Buffalo In the toils of the rings — 
— Seeking a savior — Cleveland nominated for Mayor — A po- 
litical tidal wave — An unprecedented majority — Political 
thunder storms — Purity in politics — Cleveland's letter of ac- 
ceptance — The i)eople's trustees — Very old truths — Sin(;ere 
Promises — Clev(!land's pledges — True Democratic doctrines 
— A grand old party — Success of the republic, - - 65-69 

CHAPTP^R V[. — A Man that Measures Ur. — Au eccentric old 
preacher — Hypocrites dcmounced — The unjust judge — Par- 
tiality and bribery — Justice defeated — Will he measure up — 
A roguish merchant — Sand(;d sugar — Shoit yards — Taxes and 
contributions— Quality of his honesty — An alleged Chi-istian — 
His percentage prayer— Notes and mortgages — Sixty pounds 
to the I)ushel — More short measure — The tinal weighing — 
The Subject exhausted — Who will measure up — The honest 
man desciibed — Cleveland's reform rule — Ring devil-lish 
defied — An address to the people — Duties of the citizens de- 
fined — Good readhig for all, _ . _ _ 70-7G 

CHAPTER VII. — The Peoi'le's Candidate. — A common sense 
view of matters — How governmental affairs should be admin- 
istered — Good business methods — What to avoid — Cleve- 
land's inaugural message — Trustees for the people — Individ- 
ual honesty — A sacred trust — The value of public schools 
— A large majority — Additional powers — Despairing citizens 
— A j)r('pond('rance of power — Theft and corrui)tion — Un- 
holy aims and ambitions — Public sentiment defied — The Old 
Man of the Sc^a — An uidiappy country — A beacon of safety — 
I*rofitable reading mattei- — The coui'se of decent Repul)lican3 
— Resolutions of a Brooklyn club — But a step from Democ- 
rac3' — Hostile criticism defied — Grover Cleveland to the front, 77-82 

CHAPTEli VIII.— "Well Done Thou Good and Faithful 
SEiiVANT."— Cleansingthe Augean stables — Hei-culean liil)ors 
performed — Judge Folger beaten — Defection from Republi- 
can ranks — Partisans but honest men — Fearless iournals — 
Desperate gamsters — Tiicky tactics — Jay Gould's candi- 
date — The Jom-nal of Civilization — A heavy burden — A can- 
did enemy — What Cleveland effected — The child of Reform — 
Reviewing the situation — A railroad job — Misappropriating 
funds — City govermnent a business — A street cleaning con- 
tract — Scathing satire — Blunt accusation — Corrupt Gouneil- 
meu rebuked, --_--_ 83-01 



CONTENTS. XV 

CHAPTER TX.— A Gloktous Victory.— Cleveland's letter of 
accepUuice — His regard for the laboring classes — False accu- 
sations refuted — Malicious slanders — A misunderstood action 
— Principles ai)proved — Manly promises — Views on primary 
elections — Quesiionable practices coudennied — Ofiicial inter- 
ference rebuked — Merit the test for position — Sensible sug- 
gestions — No assessments nor contiibutions — Functions of the 
Legislature — Restriction of corporations — Good faith coun- 
seled — The laboring classes — Confidence in the people — The 
evils of bribery — The simplicity of duty — Careful expenditure 
of public moneys — Who aided Cleveland — Their faith and 
their works. -.._--- 92-97 

CPIAPTER X.— The Cleveland Pedigree.— The Governor's 
great-grandfather — Anglo-Saxon virtues — The Norwich hat- 
ter — His talent and versatility — An original Abolitionist — In 
the Connecticut Legislatiu-e — Politics and religion — Death at 
New Haven — '•'•Father Cleveland," the missionary — A pro- 
lific race — A bishop in the family — A silver-smith and a 
deacon — Grover Cleveland's father — Like, yet unlike — A stu- 
dent at Yale — A teacher at Baltimore — Ordained a minister — 
Baltimore belles — A well known citizen — Preaching in the 
South — Removal to New Jersey — Grover's brothers and sis- 
ters — A tragical death— An idejd strain — A born Democrat — 
Strong connnou sense — The key-note of reform — Striking a 
clue — A few timely questions, _ - - - 98-102 

CHAPTER XL— The Boy That Was Not Afraid.— A political 
conclave — Discussing the Fare Bill — A little anecdote — An 
old curmudgeon — The boys' bathing place— Old Close's or- 
chard — Ad Sewall's shadow soup dog— His daily diet — A 
Sunday delicacy — Popular but not right — A stern chase — The 
young protector — A skinfiint's anger — Not at all afraid — 
What's in a name? — A concealed auditor — A generous invita- 
tion — Young Cleveland's amazement — Give the devil his due 
— Parallel principles — The Bill explained — His best endeavor 
— A breach of faith — Legal and moral obligations — Just and 
fair dealing — The law's limits — An honest man's duty, -103-108 

CHAPTER XIL— A Good Time Coming.— Better right than 
President — Honest convictions — Simple ceremonies — Gover- 
nor Cleveland's inaugiu-ation- No parade nor ostentation — 
Radical fuss and feathers — Cleveland walks to the Capitol — 
Takes the oath — And goes at once to work — No cards nor 
ceremony — A Sim[)le life — A bygone event recalled — True 
Republican simi)licity — A good omen — Cleveland not mag- 
netic — Blessed with enemies — No glow nor glitter — A plain 
American citizen — Themes of thankfulness — What magnet- 
ism and brilliancy have brought — Bribery, thieving and cor- 
ruption — Honesty the exception — The nation disgraced — 
School-boy (xuestions, _ - - - - 109-115 



XVI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER Xnr.— Cleveland's State Papers.— A man of 
the people — First annual message — Convict labor — Danger of 
competition — Faithful servants — Abolish unnecessary otlices 
— ^Watch the public funds — Illegal punishments — Care over 
prisoners — Another Governor — Desperation of convicts — 
A vetoed gas bill — Xot safe nor convenient — Fatal objections 
— Corporate tyranny — The rights of the people — The Utica 
Ice Company — Cupidity and seltishness — No special legisla- 
tion — Contracts must be fultilled — Danger and uncertainty — 
Buffalo City Charter — True political wisdom — Good sense 
and fair play — A thieving scheme rebuked — A vigilant offi- 
cer, ------- 116-122 

CHAPTER XIV.— Practical Political Economy.— Plutarch 
in ebony — The two sheriffs — Uncle Billy's comparison — The 
method of one sheriff — Zeal of his deputies — Exploits of Bill 
.Johnson — Ladies' men — Another style of man — Interrupting 
agreeable employment — Business before pleasure — The horse 
thief caught — Othello's occupation gone — A very Common 
Council — A poor joke — How to build a sewer — A million dol- 
lars in six months — Expectations realized — A man without 
ostentation — Terribly in earnest — Xot working for popularity 
— An bono-*: man of business — Lawyer and client — An ad- 
miring opinion — A painstaking Governor — The people first, 
party afterward, _.._-_ 123-128 

CHAPTER XV.— Clf:veland's Early School Days.— Cleve- 
land's first teacher — Afund of reminiscences — A manly boy — 
A thorough scholar — A clear active mind — The class in arith- 
metic — A mental process — The correct answer —A modest fel- 
low — Honest and conscientious — Fond of play — Compared 
with his schoolmates — A natural leader — A safe companion — 
His standing with his elders — Indomitable courage — Success- 
ful ventures — Not a namby paniby good boy — Temper and 
pugnacity — A universal champion — Thersities in miniature — 
Cuns and kicks — Thoroughly well balanced — Effective argu- 
ments — Thersites dismissed — Magnificent common sense, 129-133 

CHAPTER XVI.— A Model Scholar —His standard fixed- 
Impulsive but not rash — Not much of an orator — Good na- 
tured sarcasm — Poll parrot declamations — Young Cleve- 
land's compositions — Models of correct taste — Honest Riul- 
lery — Born to command — Firm and decided — Childish neces- 
sities — A general favorite — Fond of a joke — Faulty pictures 
— Grover's father — Devoted and careful — A sad blow — An 
excellent woman — Her sunny good humor — Tutor and pupil 
— A love match — A happy famil}' — Childish anecdotes — No 
indications of talent — A difficult sum — A studious scholar — 
The book at fault — A fallible arithmetic — A test of judgment 
—Without egotism, ----- 134-139 



CONTENTS. XVII 

CHAPTER XVII.— Some Anecdotes op Cleveland.— Rare 
good nature — A lost man — An accommodating guide — A 
grateful debtor — A surprised man — Again astray — The Gov- 
ernor to tlie rescue — A safe pilot — Additional obligations — 
Anotner surprise — Lady visitors — An approachable man — 
Put at ease — A unanimous vote — A successful administra- 
tion — Puzzled critics — False reports circulated — Honest criti- 
cism invited — Reading the papers — Annoying falsehoods — A 
friend of the masses — Wliat Democracy means — Mr. Cleve- 
land misrepresented — Proofs of his assertions — Unscrupulous 
demagogues, - - _ _ _ _ 140-144 

CHAPTER XVIII.— The Culminating Period.— A recapit- 
ulation — In search of wisdom — The country clerk— Teaching 
the blind — Editing stocli books — The lawyer's clerk — The 
first preferment — Order out of chaos — A bitter light — Reform 
the victor — A political prodigy — Tlie people's champion — In^ 
alienable rights — Honest Republican action — A broader field 
of labor — Unwavering fidelity — A rapid elevation — Able 
State papers — A sound political maxim — Never out of date — 
The use of words — A thorough lawyer — Honest institutions 
— Seductive jobs unveiled — A laboring man — FourteeM hours 
a day — A Democratic ofiicer — No lackeys, nor ceremony — A 
universal tribute, - - - _ _ 145-149 

CHAPTER XIX.— The Two Nominations— Their Meanings. 
— Republican rule in 1876 — Politics and principles — A party 
that never dies — Bribery and piejudice — A change of policy 
— The third term fallacy — A reckless executive — Greedy of 
wealth and power — Samuel J. Tilden, the reformer — His 
election to the Presidency — The infamous Eight — Theirgrand- 
est infamy — A thrifty little creature — Making a fortune — 
A Democratic mistake — The sage of Greystone — Too late — 
Hoping against hope — A fateful telegram — New York's sec- 
ond reformer — The Republican challenge — What its nomina- 
tions mean — Deeds versus words — Political bandits — Demo- 
cratic nominations — What they mean — Actual and practical 
reform, ---___« 150-154 

CHAPTER XX.— Nomination op Cleveland.— Mustering of 
the clans — A grand gathering — Speeding the happy news- 
How it was received by Governor Cleveland — Hard at work 
—Surrounded by friends— A dissappointed crowd— A slight 
change — Keeping late hours — Not at all excited — Doubt and 
uncertainty — Tammany's political pirates — The telephone's 
whisperings— Wheeling into line— Stampede of the States— 
The signal gun— Cleveland's consideration for others — Ad- 
mitting the crowd — A laboring man's prophesy — The man of 
and for the people — Receiving congratulations— A flood of 
telegrams, ---__-_ 155-161 

CHAPTER XXI— A Day in Camp.— The Governor serenaded— 
A sensible speech— At work again— Visit to the State camp — 




AH p»j*cle aT<oided — Q»etly ••drr^pping' ib/' — Antral at 
euqi — ^T"vreniT-ctQe grms — An excdi-e 1 _-e — "The bc»ld 

ac^ffier boys"" — Pres*-ni arms! — A =-:. - L .neb — An im- 
pronptn reeeptaat — A dostr p»Mlc»s<>p£ier — Ij-ah J'Ams^^n's 
guess — LfldicrDOS eomitaiB&iions — Aniiqne and modem strlt^ 
— "We are g rong to fisiit it <Nzt^* — ^A ]>emc»craTie incident — 
The ddbired reriev — Tbe Groveroor's deparmre — ^Ziiib usms- 
tie dMezxDgf— On tbe tram, - - . . 162-168 

lOM-ii^OB Cletelaxd's Kxpeexescx. — 

: ex]"»erieD<:^€" — Cleveland's fiiness for 
- of the President — Qnalificari'i-ns re- 
r Tutor — Liiwjer. Mav-M &.Dd G^i'Temor 
^e-oepti;Kv — BepnMi':-&.n te^r"m«:»nT in 
— jTne ••yew York Heraid'" — Biidne-I>:<gan 

- Jar <>;.iild ticker — Evil elements — The 
■' — A LTibnte to <_ievelLn'5 — Wliat be ba.s 

oed — H&Tx»er"s weekly — ^Abs-jlnte officii 
" to confidence — A firm, clean and inde- 
~ 7 " - : —I — - inty — Tbe ec»unLry"s demand 

— : Ret»u"blicaii insnrgents — True 
- — : - • — OppKfeiiion Xfj demago- 
16^178 

CHAPTZ?. 7737'" — ""^^ >!"A?rrLE of TiLPE^.^Wltbont fear 
LLi "■-' —1.3 yet careful — Xot a pc>licy man — 

A - - . "■- r-^- — ^; «■' '.ndonment of 

— . . . — Mr. Cleveland 
— . —_-.-. " i — Foreign 

— - -vs — At. - STiostle— 



- - - - - - -In 

- :. . -i"5 

I>r - 179-185 

CHAP IIV.— T^r Ftttee OF Ajoihica. — S-we^pinz re- 

' - — Tbe Brf^yxr^er^ and Bii-s-es — Tbe Bol»es<>n? 

— Xaval jolrs — A pbanu-»m XavA- — A di-mal 

r - - - _ , ^ ^ J, jjr.QA — "ror tbe Hejitbeii"* 

— -- — - of g^»l'3 =^j aaod^^red — A T«r'''T'f-.<'T— 

^ _A 

- - Hig- 

-— Its 
- - vi- 

sLij^A pro-.ia Title. - - ' - * - -"' l%f;-i9i 



co2rrE>~rs. xrr 



TAELE C? CCN7ZX7S. 

LITE OF THO:viAS A. Hi:>T)RICKS. 



CHAPTER I.— Thomas A. HEXDSiCKi — His BrsxH A>-p As- 
CEjTKY. — A tiokec all head — A grand o:'avend'>Ei — Hriii- 
ricks' f:ither — An able man — A n'"*ble mother — Her anc-esay 
— A Sooroh immigration — Washington's soldiers — •^n ro the 
West — The removal to Madis^jrT — William Headriek^ — ^A 
noted man — His public servioes — Hendr! .-' ' days — ^A 

grand example — --Old Hiokory*^"" ai — A cele- 

brated mansion — G- - y — As x^a — ^Su- 

perior pe •• le — SUec: : . - — . . v life oi . as — Fine 

qualities blended — PitLiiocie pariiiieli — Spartan simplicity — 
Considerate magnanimity. - - - - " 195-204 

CHAPTER n.— "The Xoblest Work of God."— The removal 
to Shelby county — Opening a forest farm^ — Reliirion's pio- 
neers — Cardinal virmes — ^A gennine - ; ^ _ ; i^ ^-,f 
prayer — Happy snrroundings — L - _ — ■= — A 
grand exemplar — Au American b«-?as: — ]:*i-t; ? 
—••The noblest R.-man of them all" — Ac 
pleted — Ad'-^pts a prc^fession — A Iocs: and active : — 
Eearly public services — Free £n?m stains — Pure wi:j 
terity — luvoktatary admiration — ^Dr. Hinton's anetMote — The 
two toughs — Deserving of respect — ^Admitted to the bar — 
Rapid success — Learntng. eloquenc-e and acureness — Strict 
honor and tnithfulness^A lion's wrath — Unlncky Secretary 
Chandler — A sUly letter writer — A poor ereanire chastised — 
Will know better next time. « - . _ 204:- 200 

CHAPTER IH— Mr. Hendricks* >Iarkiage.— A thriving Liw. 
yer — A true helpmeet — Ok>d's last best gift to man — A n".:e 
woman's ambition — A constant c-onipariion — Apt sugges:::zs 
Journeyiugs in Europe — A noble pair — The bard of Ave n — 
Death of a child — Strict church member? — Simplicity of 
taste — Givino^ in secret — Xoble Christian charity — Especially 
blessed — Social characteristics of Mr. Hendricks — A fund of 
information — Mr. Woollen's anecdote — A college • A 

visit to the Governor — Achat about poets — Anonym : - > 

— The Oovernor'- scrap- bo«'»ks — An admiring visico: — A 
charming host — Mr. Woollen's comment — Rrains and breed- 
ing — Cosmopolitan acquirements, - - - 210-214 



XX CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER rv.— Mr. Hendricks Public Life and Services 
— Elected to the Legislature--A member of the Constitutional 
Convention — Goes to Congress — Continues in that body — 
Appointed Commissioner General Land office — Goes to the 
United States Senate — Committees on whicli he served — His 
force of character — His course in Congress — Radical follies 
and iniquities — His views on important measures — His irre- 
sistible logic —Race questions — A safe position— His speeches 
accepted as Democratic doctrines — The Impeachment trial 
— Reputation enhanced — A party leader — The Convention of 
1868 — A popular candidate — A steady increase — A dramatic 
scene — Horatio Seymour nominated — His speech of declina- 
tion — Vallaudingham's reply — Rehearsed effects — State in- 
gratitude, - 215-220 

CHAPTER v.— Mr. Hendricks' Political Life.— Runs for 
Governor — Radical frauds — Runs ahead of his party — The 
election of 1860 — A postponed honor — Elected Governor — 
A splendid majorit}^ — Indiana not a doubtful State when Mr. 
Hendricks runs — A recapitulation of majorities — Steadily 
gaining in popularitj' — A factious Republican body — A non- 
political office — The people disgusted — Replaced by Demo- 
crats — The Baxter bill repealed — Governor Hendricks' prefer- 
ence — The Democratic Convention of 1876 — A grand ticket — 
Tilden, the sage, and Hendricks the statesman — The days 
of the Anakini — Creatures of the ooze and slime — Schemes 
of robbery and corruption — Intimidation and briber}^ — The 
Democratic ticket elected — Patriotism of the Democracy — 
The Electoral Commission and the infamous Eight — Perjured 
and disgraced — Apples of Sodom — Crime's lowest deep, 221-225 

CHAPTER VI.— Lawyer, Satesman and Patriot.— Aristides 
the Just— Ancientdemagouges — Mr, Hendricks' return to pri- 
vate life — Practicing law — Peculiar fitness for his avocation — 
Revealed mysteries — Off-hand opinions — The essence of all 
law — A ready man — His style of argument — Smooth, power- 
ful eloquence — Serene and smiling — A forensic treat — Good 
naturod sarcasm — A celebrated case — The surprise sprung — 
Miinceuvering for time — A strong point — A shrewd address — 
Promptitude and earnestness — A dramatic scene — The jury 
ap|)lauded — Management of cases — Civil and criminal cases 
— A general pnictitioner — His general reading — Omniverous 
literary taste — His literary atyte — Epigrammatic expressions 
— Contributions to the '• North American Review " — A ver- 
satile man, _...-_. 226-230 

CHAPTER VII.— Mr. Hendricks' Financial Policy.— With- 
out a hobby — An advocate of popular education — Truth's 
ultimate triumph — Democratic victory in 1876 — Equality in 
representation — Xo apologies to make — Rigid Democratic 
economy — A Louisiana criminal convicted — John Sherman 
and Mr. Hayes — Their interference in State trials — Their guilt 



CONTENTS. XXI 

implied — Proper piulshmeat for conspirators — Unemployed 
capital and labor — Kieli in soil and productions — The party in 
power — Special leojislation— Injury to the debtor classes — 
Governor Allen's defeat — Democratic relief bill — Republi- 
can opposition — Financial policy of the country interpreted, 231-240 

CHAPTER Vill. — The Bannp:r of Reform. — A historic 
name — Services of VViiriain Hendricks — A sufficiency of hon- 
ors — Killed in battle — Dead on the field of honor — A man 
among men — Democratic giants — Opposition and criticism — 
An unassailable record — A noble champion — An acceptable 
leader — Earnest but not violent — Calm and dignified — Secre- 
tary Chandler castigated — A foolish liar — Mr. Hendricks' 
speech at Indianapolis — A great year — A remarkable conven- 
tion — No Star Routers under Cleveland — Examine tlie books 
— Thousands stolen in the Navy Department — The guilty 
must be brought to trial— An effort for good government — 
There must be a change — Put honest men in — The banner of 
reform — Duty of the government, _ . _ - 242-249 

CHAPTER IX. — A Controversy Precipitated. — Long con- 
tinued frauds — Legitimate matter for comment — False and 
frivolous — Bureau of medicine frauds — No adequate action 
taken — Long continued peculation — A drunken clerk retained 
— A new chief clerk determined on — Senator McPherson's 
letter — A non-political office — The petition for re-appoint- 
ment — Dr. Wales' good character — Where the lie comes in — 
A natural conclusion — the Republican Senators — Old and 
honorable — Suppressed by Bill Chandler — What Senator Beck 
says — He proves Chandler's mendacity — Congressional want 
of confidence in Chandler — A lame attempt — A high office 
disgraced — A party shame, - - - - - 250-254 

CHAPTER X.— Didn't Know it was Loaded. — A prompt reply 
— An embryo letter-writer squelched — VanBuren's maxim — 
Chandler's belief in it — Mr. Hendricks' letter — A case cited — 
Chandler admits the theft — An impotent defence — Allowing 
theft to continue — Unanswerable questions — The case made 
blacker — Notified but quiescent — Privy to the frauds — Sus- 
picious circumstances not properly investigated — Guilty par- 
ties shielded — Detective Wood's opinion of Chandler — Lame 
methods of excuse — A downright falsehood — Chandler 
proved guilty — A companion case — A sniping expedition — 
"Pudding" Edwards as a practical joker — Acting the des- 
perado — Theblunderbus fired — Kicked into the ditch — A pic- 
ture of fright — Utterly inconsolable — The moan of the joker 
— Pigmy against giant, _____ 255-260 

CHAPTER XL — Bob Burdette and Mr. Hendricks. — Genial 
and entertaining — A characteristic anecdote — The only Mr. 
Hendricks — Dining with the Governor — Striking a candidate 
for a loan — Burdette out lecturing— A pleasant meeting — Din- 
ing at Wormley's — Introduced to Mr. Hendricks — A writer of 



XXII CONTENTS. 

poetiy— A retentive memory— A bewitching smile — A Hayes 
newspaper— '' A little poem " — " There was an old Hoosier " 
— Did not remember— A sad state of embarrassment — Worse 
and more of it— Campaign rhymes quoted — A thoroughly dis- 
gusted author— Bound to the stake — Not very well — A pleas- 
ant good bye— The search for Worinle}^- A hearty laugh — 
" Go to Burlington ! "—Wanted to die in peace— Missing a 
chance — The zealous preacher — A meddlesome brother — '' If 
it ain't there it ought to be," _ . . -261-265 

CHAPTER XH.- Reminiscences of Mr. Hendricks' Youth. 
— A friendly description of Mr. Hendricks- His height and 
contour — A pleasant face — Old style whiskers — The meridian 
of life— A life-long friend — Mr. Hendricks' childhood — His 
first school — The young ox driver — The embryo lawyer— His 
father's tan-yard — Goes to Hanover College — Reads law in 
Pennsylvania — The two Majors — Companions and rivals — 
Hanging out their shingles — A petty law suit — The volunteer 
attorneys — Friends and neighbors in attendance — Taking his 
fee in apples — Early peculiarities — The proper selection — The 
child the father of the man — No ordinary man — Biographi- 
cal materials — The golden age of the Republic — A noble rec- 
ord — A life lesson — The people's advocate — Deathless and 
enduring monuments, _ _ . _ _ 266-269 

CHAPTER XHI.- Characteristics of Mr. Hendricks. — Mr. 

Hendricks as Governor — His public receptions — Neither nig- 
gard nor extravagant — His ofticial hospitality — Boarding at 
the Bates House — The old law firm — The home on Tennessee 
street — Culture and refinement — Happy surroundings — An 
ideal home — Pwre and patriotic — A clean life — A trip to En- 
rope — The reception at London — Dividingthe honors — Revis- 
its Europe — An older not a better civilization— Seductions 
of courts — A patriotic declaration — The prairie cabin — King- 
cursed countries —Home again — A perfect ovation — The 
serenade— Speeches and festivities — A grand old Roman — A 
pleasant evening— A witty talker — Charms lost in reporting — 
The stimulus of antagonism — Author and financier — Mr. Hen- 
dricks interrupted — The shrieking of the loon — A stirring 
anecdote — A temperate mind, - _ _ -270-274 

CHAPTER xrv^- The Nomination of Hendricks.— A dra- 
matic political scene —Indescribable enthusiasm — Friendly 
hopes— Canvassing the candidates — Vice-Presidential possi- 
bilities — Disturbance in the Indiana delegation — A bitter com- 
promise — The various favorite^; — The re-assembling of the 
Convention — Withdrawal of Tammany — Badly battered by 
Bragg — Demagogue Butler — California leads off — a Georg- 
ian panegyric— General Black declines — Zephyrs and cy- 
clones — A Democrat's duty — A motion to nominate by accla- 
mation — The Indiana delegation- -A wonderful uprising — 
" Auld Lang Syne"— "Old Iliuidred" and '' America" — 
" Home Sweet Home " — The Convention adjourns, - - 275-2S0 



CONTENTS. XXIII 

CHAPTER XV — Mr. Hendricks Notified of his Nomina- 
tion. — Arrival of the coiniuittee at Saratoga — The prelimi- 
nary consultation — Scene of the notification — Address of Hon. 
W. F. Vilas — Reading of the committee's communication by 
Mr. Bell — Reply of Mr. Hendricks — An august body — A 
very great convention — Selecting a ticket — A Democrat's duty 
— The power of the Vice-Presidency — Tlie casting vote — Presi- 
dent of tlje Senate — What may occur — Honored by tlie nomi- 
nation — The right of rights — Pertinent questions — The letter 
of acceptance — Introductions and hand-shakings — The cere- 
mony concluded, _---__ 281-287 

CHAPTER XVI. — Honest Republican Testimony.— Political 
etiquette — The Mulligan and the Zuni — The '' Times " on the 
ticket — Principle repudiated — Refusing their candidates — A 
superserviceable Pecksniff — Blaine's habit of lying — A vul- 
nerable record — "•Globe-Democrat" strictures — Unclean and 
dishonest — Eating crow— The ''Herald's" change of base — 
Thoroughly bad nominations — "Harper's Weekly" on Blaine 
— The Mulligaa letters — Innocence not proved — A conveni- 
ent illness — William Walter Phelp's letter — Anger and des- 
peration — The home visitor's creed — General McDonald on 
Logan — One of the whiskey ring — Henry Ward Beecher talks 
— The independent convention — The decent Republicans for 
Cleveland, ._-.-.- 288-294 

CHAPTER XVTL— A Startling Record.— The "Tribune's" 
pet name for Logan. — An enjoyable extract — A knowledge 
of Greek, Latin, French and Spanish — Little or no knowl- 
edge of English — Mr. Lyman rebuked — The trick mule of 
debate — A dismembered dictionary — A man of luugs — Ludi- 
crous but correct— A compliment to Illinois— Consistent Union- 
ism — Extracts and affidavits — Abuse of Douglas — Logan as a 
Secessionist — A close call — Logan's letter to Haynee — His 
opinion of Republicans — Denounces Mr. Lincoln — Historical 
references — Xegroes and mulattoes — Logan as a legislator — 
A paltry creature, _-_..__ 295-302 

CHAPTER XVIIL— Political Parallels.— Plutarch's biogra- 
phies — Magnificent material — The opposing tickets — ^I'he 
magnetic man — Tattooed with iniquities — On bended knees 
to Mulligan — Cowardice supplemented with mendacitj^ — The 
Plaisted Circular — Political religion — Trading upon position 
— Of sober promise — A capable officer — Cleveland the Re- 
former — A primitive politican — The two men compared — A 
good name versus wealth — Purity versus corruption — What 
the press has to say — A blundering bully — Taking a back seat 
— Two hundred thousand majority — A sufticient encomium — 
Logan and theZunis — The great American nepotist — An hon- 
est opponent — How they compare — Honest Republican tes- 
timony, - - - _ - - _ 303-308 



XXIV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIX— Tilden's Dkclinatton.— Refers to his lettet 
of 1S80 — Renouneiug the nomination — Reasons for reserve-^ 
Above personal ambition — An efficient instrument — Beyond 
his strength — Additional reasons for retirement — Appeal of 
the masses — A potent inflneuce — The grandest means of good 
— A veteran reformer — Duties involved in public trusts — The 
money power — Herculean labors — Physical health insufficient 
— The ndvance of age — An impulse for good — Expresses his 
gratitude — The will of God — A career forever closed, - 30&-314 

CHAPTER XX. — The Cleveland Letter. — Kelly's under- 
strapper—An annoj'ing creature — Inpudently depraved — On 
the make — Hindering reform — Text of the letter — Pure legis- 
lation and the people's interests concerned — Kelly's base ac- 
tion — A liar and a liypocrite — An action not regretted — De- 
sire to benefit tlie State — Public detestation of Grady — Cleve- 
land's righteous indignation — A party traitor — An unfortu- 
nate system — Kelly a coarse and gratuitously malicious crea- 
ture — The topic finally disposed of, - - - - 315-320 

CHAPTER XXI.— Governor Cleveland Notified of his 
Nomination. — Democratic simplicity — Members of the com- 
mittee — Appearance of Governor Cleveland — Address of Col- 
onel Yilas — Rounds of applause — The written address — 
Reply of Governor Cleveland — A noble speech — Simple but 
manly — Unaffected and honest — What the Democracy will 
do — A platform in itself — A collation served — The reception 
at the Fort Orange Club, -' - - - 321-330 

CHAPTER XXII.— The Convention "Meets.— The gathering 
cohorts — Marshalled for battle — Called to oi'der — Prayer by 
the Rev. Dr. Marquis — Mr. Barnum's remarks — Harmony and 
victory — The Temporary Chairman— Presented to the Con- 
vention — Ex-Governor Hubbard's address — An old Texan — 
A tribute to Democracy — Undying principles — A deathless 
party — The infamous Electoral Commission — Storms of ap- 
plause — Tlie need of reform — The bloody shirt — Fields of 
common glory, ______ 331-341 

CHAPITR XXHI.— Colonel W. F. Vilas Elected Chair- 
man. — The preliminary organization — Election of W. F. Vi- 
las — Introduced by Ex-Governor Hubbard— Greeted with 
applause — Tiie Xortlnvestern Democracy — A great object in 
view — Earth's gi-andest govermnent — Its Republican oppres- 
sors — Their false promises — "Soap, ''their campaign cry — 
Their visionary schemes — Their evil use of money — Defraud- 
ing the people — A change demanded — The Democracy the 
country's savior — The Sodom of Republicanism — A Demo- 
cratic eulogy, -____- 342-350 

Lives of the Presidents of the United States, - 351-403 



CONTENTS. XXV 



EARLY AMERICAN POLITICS. 



CHAPTER I.— Early American Politics.— Duties of citizen- 
ship — Its profits and privileges — Proper metliods of studying 
our institutions — Trying situations — Interpreters of the con- 
stitution — Our luitrammelled franchise — Who may aspire to 
position — Honor and intellect the test of manhood — The power 
of knowledge — Important stations — A lasting value — A po- 
litical guide book — Protest against tyranny — The first Ameri- 
can Congress — The Convention of 1774 — Non-Intercourse 
Resolutions — The first gun for liberty— The Colonial Congress 
Washington made Commander-in-Chief — Departments estab- 
lished — Declaration of Independence — Articles of Confedera- 
tion—Birth of the United States — Articles ratified— Strong 
Government Whigs — Particularist Whigs — First political 
parties — Fifteen forgotten Presidents, - - - 404-412 

CHAPTER II.— Political History from 1788 to 1815.— A 

farcical political contest — Opposing parties — Federalists and 
Anti-Federalists — The Constitution goes into effect — General 
Washington inaugurated — John Adams Vice-President — A 
noble character — North Carolina and Rhode Island ratify — 
Madison joins the opposition — The first apportionment of 
representation — Vermont and Kentucky admitted into the 
Union — Washington's unanimous nomination — Contest be- 
tween Federalists and Republicans for Vice-President — Jef- 
ferson retires from the Cabinet — An able statesman — Wash- 
ington's farewell address — Adams and Jefferson — The Alien 
and Sedition laws — The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions — 
Party spirit increases — Second contest between Adams and 
Jefferson— Defects of the Electoral College— Mode of voting 
— A tie vote— Seat of Government removed to Washington — 
The first party platform— The first caucus— Congressional 
Conventions — Change in electoral methods — Jefferson's sec- 
ond election — Republicans adopt the name of Democrats — 
The people's party— Federalist defeats— Our second foreign 
war— The Hartford Convention— Its principles— The first na- 
• tional bank bill, - 413-419 

CHAPTER III.— Political History from 1815 to 1844.— An 
overwhelming Democratic success — Monroe's second elec- 
tion—A wonderful triumph — Missouri becomes a State — The 
Missouri Compromise measures — Four candidates in the field 
— The choice of the people defeated — A second crisis — A cor- 
rupt coalition — National Convention system adopted — In- 
justice rebuked — Jackson's appointments — A false accusation. 
— The new party — The Democratic platform — Public moneys 
removed — Congressional pairing off invented — The log cabin 
and hard cider campaign — "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" — 
Demagogical devices— A Whig success — An Abolitionist can- 



XXVI CONTENTS. 

didate — Harrisoirs death in office — A new party forming — 
The Buffalo platform — The first dark horse — A close race — 
The Libert}^ party — The war with Mexico — Texas annexed — 
Fate of the Wilmot Proviso — Anti-slavery agitated, - 420-425 

CHAPTER IV.— Political History from 1844 to 1864.— The 
Democratic Convenlioii of 1848 — General Taylor nominated 
by the Whigs — The Fiee-soil Democrats — The Abolitionist 
nominee — Spartan heroism — A gallant old hero — Perfidy 
avenged — Dead at the White House — Scott and Graham — 
Another dark horse — A grand Democratic victory — The Kan- 
sas troubles — A promiscuous opposition — The National 
Americans — The Know-Nothing shibboleth — A masterly in- 
activity — Buck and Breck — Fremont's cheap notoriety — A 
pathfinder by proxy — Helper's Impending Crisis — A fanatical 
fool — John Brown's prototype — A servile insurrection — A rat 
in a hole — The Charleston Convention — A stormy session — 
Suicidal policy — Adjourned to Baltimore — Seceeding delega- 
tions — Butler, of Massachusetts — The twin conventions — Dual 
nominations — The Constitutional Union nominees — Three 
probabilities — The campaign of 1864 — Lincoln assassinated — 
John Wilkes Booth, ------ 426-431 

CHAPTER v.— Political Histroy from 1864 to 1881.— John- 
son's administration — Judicial murder — A reign of terror — 
Military bastiles — Seward's boast — The campaign of 1868 — 
Republican tactics — The Liberal Republican party — A fool- 
ish endorsement — The Democratic straight-outs — Grant and 
Wilson — Whisky ring and CreditMobiliers — The Temperance 
candidate — The Greenbackers — The St. Louis Convention in 
1876— Election of Tilden— Tlieft of the Presidency— An in- 
famous commission — Perjured partisans — A miserable im- 
poster — Argument to abolish the Electoral College — A noble 
man — By force of arms — Reaping its reward — A Paltry crea- 
ture—Dead sea fruits— Stalwart and half-breed— The third 
term delegates — Corrui)t b:irgains — A Democratic mistake — 
Greenback candidates — An interesting vote — Republican dis- 
sensions — Guitoau assassinates Garfield — A tailor's block — 
Star-route prosecutions — A perfect farce — Thieves turned 
^loose, ----.--_ 432-437 

CHAPTER VI. — Political Measures — Federalism. — Men 
and measures — The first political difference — Antagonistic 
measures — The National Bank — A question of supremacy— A 
difference of opinion — Hamilton and Jefferson — Aristocracy 
versus Democracy — A noble character — Opposing leaders — 
The Alien and Sedition laws — Tyrannical measures — Their 
scope — Penalties for their neglect — Fine and imprisonment — 
Official egotism — Their date of expiration — Tlie Kentucky 
and Virginia resolutions — States' Rights doctrine — Madison 
and Jefferson — The Federal league defined — Assumed powers 
— No common judge — The proi^er remedy — A Federalist 
opinion — The evil aggravated — The measures failures — A 
frank confession, --_--„ 438-442 



CONTENTS. XXVII 

CHAPTER VIL — Political Measures of Washington's Ad- 
ministrations. — Madison's resolution — Tonnage duties and 
imports — Creation of the departments — A question of author- 
ity — The opposition carjy the point — Supreme Court Justices 
appointed — Tliank.sgiviug day — Debts of the United States — 
Vahie of Continental currency — Funding propositions — 
Duties increased — Assumption of State debts — A fair ex- 
cliange — A jealous party — Creation and creators — The Na- 
tional Bank bill — Its origin — Meeting of the Second Congress 
— Representative apportionment — A Cabinet council — Num- 
ber of members — St. Clair's defeat — A warm debate — An in- 
crease of duties — Protection appears — Fishing bounties — 
Other measures — A new name — An untlngging champion — A 
bitter enemy — Political organs — Hamilton's card — A Hat de- 
nial — A newspaper war — Tlie Whisky Insurrection quelled — 
Washington's second tei-m — Fugitive Shive Bill — The French 
Minister — A presumptions individual — An interesting chap- 
ter — Hostile complications — A grand leader, - - 448-448 

CHAPTER vni.— Political Measures— Democracy.— The 
Congress of 1793 — An opposition majority — A strict neu- 
trality advised — The piojxn' Indian i)olicy — Foreign re- 
strictions — Jefferson's resignation — The retaliating duties 
debate — Able political papers — The Algerian piiates — A 
strong navy recommended — A cheaper plan — A ridiculous 
idea — American vessels seized — Lord Dorchester's speech — 
British orders modified — Indian hostilities — Jaj^'s mission — A 
sinking fund established — Tlie English treaty — Jay burned in 
effigy — Treaty ratified — An open rupture — Washington's firm- 
ness — French complications — An unjust position — Safety to 
neutrals — Broken promises — Monroe recalled — Washington's 
farewell address — False ideas — A slight resemblance — A bit- 
ter contest — Adams elected — Washington retires — At Mount 
Vernon — His success as a statesman — Lee's eulogy, - 449-454 

CHAPTER IX.— Political Measures— Foreign Difficul- 
ties. — The navy department cieated — The First Secretary — 
A special session — Privateering schemes — A milita organized 
— Three'frigates commissioned — The Stamp Act — An odious 
measure — Embassadoi-s to France — Money demanded — Inju- 
dicious legislation — Political newspapers — The Aurora and 
others — The Fries rebellion — The Sixth Congress — Death of 
Washington — Federalist dissensions — Trouble in Adams' Cab- 
inet — The British faction — Hamilton's intrigues — The Re- 
organization Act — Partisan appointments — A tie vote — The 
election in the House— Jefferson elected President — Federal in- 
trigues — A second Cataline — A cold-blooded conspirator — The 
Twelfth Amendment — Jefferson's inauguration — A model ad- 
dress — Democracy's first triumph — A false accusation — 
Adams' abuse of power — The midnight appointments — The 
rights of the majority — A famous phrase — An honest defense 
— Abuses rectified — Promises well kept. - - - 455-460 



XXVIII CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER X.— Political Measures — Triumph of the De- 
mocracy. — The Seventh Congress — The administration ma- 
jority — The written message — Natuialization laws amended — 
A sinkinglfund perfected — The tirst Slave Trade Acts — Spain's 
secret treaty — Louisiana ceded to France — Able diplomacy — 
The Federalists checkmated — The acquisition of Louisiana — 
Disgusted Federalists — The Eastern empire — Napoleon's 
predictions — Increase of administration majority — Jefferson 
re-elected — The French Spoliation Bill — The Embargo Act — 
A change of name — A party faction — The breach cemented — A 
stormy close — British treaty rejected — Right of search denied 
— The Chesapeake flred on — A brilliant and successful ad- 
ministration — Madison elected President — A skillful game — 
Non-intercourse declared — American minister to England 
recalled — War with England declared — Defeat of the National 
Bank — A grand orator — The era of statesmen — The Clinto- 
nian Democracy — Madison re-elected — The war of 1812 — 
Eastern opposition — Infamous traitors — Connecticut blue 
lights — The Hartford Convention — Treaty of Ghent — Post- 
age reduced — Monroe elected President — States admitted — 
The Monroe Doctrine — A unanimous choice, - - 4G1-466 

CHAPTER XI. —Political Measures— Anti-Slavery Agita- 
tion. — The ^lissouri Compromise — New party lines — Almost 
a Federal victory — Patriotic party actions — The sectional 
line — Federalists hopes — What we owe Democracy — Disrup- 
tion prevented — Dr. Lloyd's resolution — By right of discov- 
ery — Acquisition of Florida — Change of Indian polic)' — The 
tariff and internal improvements — Debate of Clay and Web- 
ster — Increased tariff bill passed — Its broad scope— The cam- 
paign of 1824 — Jackson defrauded — The infamous coalition — 
The facts in the case — The Columbian letter — Trading parti- 
sans— Jackson's incorruptibility — Clay's denial — WhatKremer 
avowed — The balance of proof — "Old Hickory's" firm belief 
— Conspirators retired to ])i'ivate life — Clay forced into the 
National Republican (^Vhig) party — The new party policy — 
Congressional Caucuses abolished — The National Convention 
plan — An increased opposition, _ _ _ _ 407-472 

CHAPTER XII.— Political Measures— Tariff and Nulli- 
fication. — The Congress of American States — Democratic 
doctrine— Electoral revision — The Tenure of Office bills— A 
proposed amendment — A sectional measure — A change of 
policy — A natural objection — Election of Jackson — A wrong 
righted — Debate between Ila.vne and Webster — The Presi- 
dent's message — A mongrel institution — For and against re- 
chartering the National Bank — Jackson's veto — Removes the 
government funds from the bank — A scheming corporation 
— Embarassment and distress — Resolutions of censure — Ar- 
rogant officers — Paltry partisians — Jackson thwarted — The 
public estranged — The first whitewashing committee — A 
financial wreck — A family quarrel — South Carolina's nullifi- 



CONTENTS. XXIX 

cation ordinance — Jackson's proclamation — Clay's Compro- 
mise Bill — The course of Daniel Webster — Benton's hard 
money speech — Democratic legislgtion — French damages 
paid — Qualver petition — Abolition memorials — Incendiary 
documents — Fanatics in control — A large reward — Monroe 
Edwards, the noted forger — John A. Murrell as an Abolition- 
ist — Conservative conduct — The agitation allayed, - 473-479 

CHAPTER XIII.— Political Measures— :NrEW Parties.— The 
Anti-Masonic party — An ephemeral affair — A fanciful crusade 
— An unscrupulous politician — Clay's Sui-plus Distribution 
measures — The Democracy deceived — Unwise action and its 
effects — Van Buren elected President — A fine address — The 
financial panic of 1887 — Repeal of Jackson's Circular — An 
extra session called — Democratic views and actions urged — 
An independent treasury advised — Whig opposition — Land, 
banking and anti-slavery agitation — Petition of the Vermont 
Legislature — The Calhoun Resolutions — A Whig Speaker 
elected — Pairing off invented — The log cabin campaign — Silly 
sentimentality — Tippecanoe and Tyler too — Harrison elected 
— His one month's rule — John Tyler succeeds to the Presi- 
dency — Democratic measures repealed — All debts abolished 
— Clay's pet measure — The Hour R»ile adopted — Harrison's 
widow pensioned — Modern Epaminondases — Jefferson's servi- 
ces and his povert}^ — Monroe's lost fortunes — Jackson's em- 
barassments — Democratic loyalty to the constitution — Great 
men and invaluable services — Federalist robbery, - 480-485 

CHAPTER XrV. — Political measures — Anndxation of 
TEXAS. — Xaval fund consumed — Wild Whig legislation — 
The Loan Bill and tariff — Calhoun's answer to Clay — Another 
bank bill — Tyler's veto — Clay censures the President — Resig- 
nation of the Cabinet — Still another veto by Tyler — The 
Whig address to the people — Caleb Cushing's defence of the 
President — Clay resigns from tlie Senate — His farewell ad- 
dress — A bankrupt government — The Whigs in despair — A 
double measure — Administration folly — Losing their power 
— ^Vau Buren's nomination defeated — The first dark horse — 
Clay the AVliig candidate — The annexation of Texas — The 
situation accepted — A new party — Polk's message — Demo- 
cratic legislation recommended — 54-40, or fight — A definite 
boundary line sought for — The treaty finally concluded — War 
with Mexico declared — Introduction of the Willmot Proviso — 
Furious contentions — Calhoun's Resolution, - - 486-490 

CHAPTER XV.— Political Measures— Missouri Compro- 
mise Annulled. — A Whig House and Speaker — Anti-slav- 
ery agitation and the Missouri Compromise — An amended 
bill passed — The Democratic Convention of 1848 — Old Rough 
and Ready — A heroic epigram — Taylor elected President — 
Polk's last message — A prosperous condition — Department of 
the Interior created — Whig majority in Congress — A Demo- 



XXX CONTENTS. 

cratic Speaker — Measures introduced by Clay — Seward's reso- 
lution rejected — Infamous schemes — Traitorous doctrines — 
Abolition or secession — Calhoun's last speech — Webster's 
tribute to him — Death of General Taylor — A brave soldier 
and an honest statesman — Bill for admission of California — A 
Senatorial i)rotest — The Missouri Compromise annulled — The 
Convention at Nashville, ----- 491-495 

CHAPTER XVI.— Political Measures — Secession Pro- 
posed. — A skulker's paradise — Abolitionist change of .tone — 
A peaceful dissolution of the Union demanded — The Whigs of 
1852 — A second dark horse — John P. Hale's candidacy — 
Pierce's overwhelming majority — The Native American party 
— The test in New York City — Scotched but not killed — A se- 
cret organization — What foreigners owe the Democracy — Or- 
ganization of Nebraska — Douglas' Squatter Sovereignty doc- 
trine — The Kansas troubles again — The President's proclama- 
tion — The Dred Scott decision — Appealed to the U. S. Su- 
preme Court — Incendiary threats — The Native American plat- 
form — Secret order politics — The Whig endorsement. - 496-501 

CHAPTER XVIT.— Political Measures— Debates of Doug- 
las AND Lincoln. — A cast-off title assumed — A mongrel col- 
lection — A league against Democracy — John C. Fremont 
nominated for President — A path-tinder by proxy — A wonder- 
ful development — The AVhig part^- disappears — Jonah's gourd 
— Inauguration of Buchanan — A conscientious officer — The 
Native Americans disappear — A party without a principle — 
The joint canvass of Douglas and Lincoln — Democratic bick- 
erings — An unequal contest — An unterrified Democrat — The 
mob detied — Tactics of the Republicans — Kansas' double 
constitution — A false statement — The Leeomptou Constitution 
adopted — The doctiment forwarded — Voting at the election 
— Bill admitting Kansas — Douglas' amendment — Still a terri- 
tory — Requirements rejected, - - _ _ 502-506 



CONTENTS. XXXI 



SUPPLEMENT. 



CHAPTER I.— Political Measures— John Brown's Raid. 

— Kansas becomes a free State — The Wyandotte Conven- 
tion of 1859 — A foolish fanatic — John Brown's raid — Cap- 
ture of Harper's Ferry — Citizens murdered in tlie streets — 
Surrounded and captured — A tame hero — A patron saint — 
Hale's denial of participation — Tlie raid condemned iu the 
North — A detestable crime — Fessenden's denial of complic- 
ity — Doolittle's challenge — Kin^ explains Seward's speech — 
Peaceful and constitutional means — Brown regarded as a 
lunatic — A friendless ruffian — Praised by poets — Hung for 
murder and treason — Sectional passion — A conglomerate 
party — Resistance to aggression — The masses embittered — 
Ambitious leaders — The conflict outlined, 507-510 

CHAPTER II.— Political Measures— Abolition and Se- 
cession. — The Charlston Convention— The two-thirds rule — 
The territorial slavery question — The committee on resolu- 
tions — The two reports — Unable to harmonize — The majority 
report — Adroit political jngglery — Tlie unit rule — The mi- 
nority report adopted — Withdi-awal of seven States — An 
effort for peace — Georgia withdraws — Virginia, Kentucky 
and Tennessee — Defeat of Howard's resolution — The Doug- 
las men iu fault — The two-thirds ruletriumphs — An adjourn- 
ment moved— Tlie Convention reassembles — Tyranny and 
oppression — Withdrawal of other States — Mr. Gushing re- 
signs the chairmanship — Ben Butler's announcement— Call- 
ing the roll of the States — Action of Butler — Carries his 
point — Leaves the Convention — Douglas nominated — The 
National Democratic Convention — The majority report 
adopted — John C. Breckenridge nominated — A Republican 
victory ensured, 511-515 

CHAPTER HI.— Political Measures— War and Recon- 
struction.— The Republican Convention of 1860— Bicker- 
ing factions — A new recruit selected — The Constitutional 
Union Convention — A forlorne hope — Republican success — 
Eleven States secede — Buchanan's beliefs — Sentiments of 
Horace Greeley — The dut}^ of Congress — Republican obsti- 
nacy — The Crittenden Compromise — Abolition or Secession — 
Course of the border States — Southern conservatives — Re- 
publican enmity — insult and injury — Extreme partisans — 
What could have been effected — Accusations against Floyd — 
The Emancipation proclamation — A party without a princi- 
ple — State reconstruction — Judge Underwood's opinion — 
Johson's view of reconstruction— Removal of Stanton — The 



XXXII ' CONTENTS. 

Impeachment trial — Tlie contest of 1864 — Grant's election — 
Shameless corruption — The legal tender decision— Ground 
for greenbackers— Complexion of the party — The Prohibi- 
tionists — A miserable failure, 516-521 

CHAPTER IV.— Political Measures— Theft of the Presi- 
dency. — A subject of wonder — Nomination of Tilden — Hayes 
the Republican candidate — Rising of the people — Rogues' 
reasons — A patriotic man — A crowning infamy — Hayes' ad- 
ministration—Grant's bayonet rule — The infamous eight — 
Catching a tarter — Hayes' following — A change of base — 
Longing for Grantism — The third term heresy — Garfield se- 
cures the nomination — General W. S. Hancock — The Repub- 
lican majority' — An electoral sermon — The corruption fund 
for Indiana — Star-route thievery — Assassination of Garfield 
— Guiteau the Stalwart — Greater than John Brown — Arthur 
inaugurated — A fop and a bon vivant — His prosecutions a 
failure — Generals and Honorables — The Republic still safe 
— ^Her course through the centuries, 522-227 

CHAPTER V. — The Platform Adopted. — No specious vote 
begging — No slurring of living issues — Every plank pure gold 
— Every one can stand on it — The voice of the people — Re- 
publican record — Party pledges — Tariff reform — Trade ex- 
tension — Honest money — Equal rights — A free ballot — Terri- 
torial officers— Sumtuary laws — Church and State — Property 
rights — The labor interest — Public lands — Pauper labor — 
Protection of citizens — River improvement — The American 
marine — American policy — A tribute to Tilden 528-539 

CHAPTER VI. — Nominations in Order.— Calling the roll — 
Breckenridge of California — Thurnian of Ohio, nominated — 
Behold the man — Seconded by Mr. Gray — A battle already 
won — The old red bandanna — An intellectual Ajax — James 
A. MTvenzie of Kentucky — John G. Carlisle named — A talis- 
manic name — Honor his birthright — A splendid contrast — 
Facing the audience — Massachusetts called — Butler hissed — 
Bayard's nomination seconded by General Hooker of Missis- 
sip])! — Governor Cleveland nominated — Promptly seconded 
— Tammany treachery — Kelly's tool, Grady, - 540-554 

CHAPTER VII.— Nominations Continued.— Hendricks of In- 
diana — A burst of enthusiasm — Cheers for the old ticket — 
McDonald nominated — Delicate and important duties — Re- 
publican excesses — Need of honesty and economy — A vast 
standing army — Stupendous frauds — The sentiment of '76 — 
The peer of the proudest — Another storm of applause — Col. 
Thomas E. Powell — Hoadly, of Ohio, nominated — The im- 
portance of the Buckeye State — An acknowledged leader — 
Senator Wallace, of Pennsylvania — Samuel J. Randall nom- 
inated — Promptly seconded. 555-568 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 



CHAPTER I. 

GROVER CLEVELAND HIS BIRTH AND ANCESTRY. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER. THE VILLAGE OF CALDWELL.- 



REMOVALTO FAYETTEVILLE. A DEATHLESS LYRIC. A FAMILIAR 

FIGURE. THE SOUL OF HONESTY. AN OLD CITIZEN'S OPINION. 

A HOMELY TRIBUTE. A CHILD OF THE PEOPLE. HANDI- 
CAPPED WITH POVERTY. NO FAVORS ASKED. ANOBLEDETER- 

- MINATION. A THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE. THE BOY'S FUTURE. 

BECOMES A CLERK. THE GENERAL STORE. A CRUDE CON- 
GLOMERATION. MULTIFARIOUS DUTIES. A WALKING ENCY- 
CLOPEDIA. FIFTY DOLLARS A YEAR. A YOUNG ATHLETE. 

THE SLAVE OF DUTY. HONEST AND FAITHFUL. NOBLE LONG- 
INGS. HEROIC RESOLVES. 

On the 18th day of March, 1837, there was born, in the 
little town of Caldwell, Essex county, New Jersey, a child 
upon whom its parents bestowed the name of Stephen 
Grover Cleveland. The father of the child was a Presby- 
terian preacher, blessed, if we consider money the root of 
all evil, with a small salary and a large family, and who 
experienced considerable difficulty in making both ends 
meet. The small village of Caldwell not proving a remu- 
nerative field of labor, the minister sought a more extended 
vineyard, where he could be of greater service in the Mas- 
ter's labor and where, also, there might occur some opening 
for the children with whom he had been so abundantly 
blessed. 

33 



34 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Grover Cleveland, the subject of this sketch, was only 
three years old at the time of this removal, which was ac- 
complished by way of the Hudson river and Erie canal. 
The location selected by Cleveland senior was the strag- 
gling village of Fayetteville. This hamlet, as it would be 
called in the older civilization of Europe, was of the usual 
type of small country towns; a collection of residences with 
large yards, an old style inn or tavern, a few stores and 
a blacksmith shop. There was the public well similar to the 
one which aroused the eloquence of the New England tramp 
printer and produced that deathless lyric "The Old Oaken 
Bucket." 

Out of the mossy, dripping bucket that hung in this deep 
cool well, full many a time and oft did the rosy child, des- 
tined to be the next President of the United States, slake 
his thirst, and no figure was a more familiar one than that 
of this child of the people. Full of life and animal spirits, 
his hearty romps and childish pranks have often caused the 
admiration of the honest burghers of Fayetteville, who could 
not but sympathize with the handsome, noble spirited boy. 

If the brilliancy of genius cast a halo about the boy, the 
citizens of the village were too dull to note it, but it was a 
matter of remark to all, that he was the soul of honesty 
and fairness. Said an old citizen of the town, when told 
of his career as Mayor of Buffalo and Governor of New 
York: 

'^I never knowed as he'd ever raise to anything great — 
for you can't tell nothin' about boys — but I always did 
know that Grove Cleveland couldn't do a mean trick, and 
that he was jest as honest as the day is long." 

A homely but noble tribute from one of the sturdy yeo- 
manry and one most truly deserved. The honorable train- 



GROVER CLE\^LAND. 



35 




36 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

ing of that stern old Presbyterian sire had fixed in the 
mind of the child, the principles of honor and honesty as 
firmly and immutably as the rock-ribbed hills. He might 
never have developed the brilliancy of some of our states- 
men, nor might he have made so conspicuous a figure in the 
arena of politics, but he could do better, he could show us a 
noble example of Roman honesty and Spartan simplicity and 
honor. The childhood of young Cleveland, like that of the 
majority of American born and bred citizens, was not ''lapped 
in soft luxury," nor ''pampered full with pride." It knew 
the usual measure of boyish joys and boyish sorrows ; it 
had its successes and its reverses ; it scored its victories and 
its defeats. Unlike his opponent, "whose father," says one 
of his biographers, "prided himself upon being a gentleman 
of elegant leisure," Grover Cleveland had no golden bulwark 
to stand between him and the storms of adversity, and no 
unlimited purse of Fortunatus with which to purchase sure 
success from adverse circumstances. 

He was essentially a child of the people, around whom 
the gaudy goddess of aristocracy had not wrapped the pur- 
ple of position to warn the masses from contact with her 
idol. Handicapped with the dead weight of poverty, his 
was one of the noble souls born for success; one of those 
gallant soldiers of fortune, who expect no favors and ask 
no aid in their contest with the world. The odds were 
against him, but this served only as a stimulus to renewed 
exertion, and rendered sweeter the fruits of each successive 
victory. 

He was of the metal from which is forged the heroes, wlio 

from 

"Low birth and iron fortune, 
Twin jailors of the daring heart," 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 



37 




38 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

wring victory at the sword's point of energy and perse- 
verance. Determination characterized him as a child and a 
youth ; that determination that afterwards enabled him to 
confront and strangle fraud and corruption in the high 
places of his native State, and that, in the life struggle, have 
rewarded his patient toil with a full measure of success. 

What intuition gives to its favored darlings he acquired 
by force of mind and native industry, and while so-called 
genius and talent lay in inglorious dalliance with indolence 
and guilt, his noble mind scorned the luring syrens and ever 
struggled upward to its ideal elevation. 

At Fayetteville young Cleveland remained until he was 
fourteen years old, by which time his bright mind, aided by 
untiring industry, had mastered all that the village school 
could teach, and with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge 
he clamored for a course at some academy more suitable to 
his attainments than the meager curriculum afforded by the 
home pedagogues. This very commendable desire found 
but slight response in the breast of the elder Cleveland, 
whose purse could ill stand the drain which a collegiate 
course for the son would make, and who was forced to 
make him self-supporting at the earliest possible moment. 

How was this to be done? was the question. The boy 
might be put on a farm, or at a trade, or into a store — of 
other situations there was a dearth. It was finally con- 
cluded that the latter promised the highest remuneration 
and the greatest outcome, and hence application was made 
to the store-keeper for a position for the hoy. He was a 
universal favorite, was bright, accommodating and, above 
all things, strictly honest, and the merchant was delighted 
to secure him as a clerk. 

The store at Fayetteville, in which Cleveland served his 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 



39 




40 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

novitiate to the trade of merchandising, was like those of 
the Western small towns of to-day. Dry goods and wet 
goods, groceries and hardware, stationery and clothes were 
there in close juxtaposition; and the clerk was liable at any 
moment to be called from weighing out a pound of codfish 
for farmer Grano^er to sell a bottle of coloo;ne to Miss Belle, 
the village beauty. His duties were multifarious and his 
knowledsre of merchandise must be universal. Pins and 
pickles, lard and leather, flour and fish, rope and sugar, 
teas and tin pans, all fell within his province, and he was 
expected to be a good judge of each. 

The clerk must be able to keep books and make out ac- 
counts; he must be able to advise old Mrs. Smiley as to the 
best brand of tea, and young Mrs. Mayflower of the proper 
remedy for nervous headache ; farmer Frugal came to him 
for his opinion as to the best variety of seeds, and the black- 
smith consulted him about a liniment for wind-galls and 
bone spavins. From this slight enumeration of the every 
day duties of the clerk in a country store of that time and 
locality, it may be easily surmised where Buffalo's model 
mayor and New Ygrk's ideal governor accumulated that 
store of patience and tact that brought him out winner in 
his combats for the goddess of his worship, the star-eyed 
deity of reform. 

The remuneration for this Hyperion of attendants and 
walking encyclopedia of useful information, must, you 
think, have been enormous. It was enormously inadequate. 
Young Cleveland received fifty dollars the first year, with the 
promise of one hundred the second year, if he suited the 
proprietor and could command a good trade. The first year 
Grover proved entirely satisfactory to the merchant and his 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 41 

customers, and the secona year found him equally atten- 
tive to his duties. 

Although a strong, healthy boy, full of life and fond of 
the athletic games and sports of boyhood, yet Cleveland 
never shirked the onerous burdens that fell too early to his 
lot. A proficient in swimming, skating, ball-playing, and 
other youthful amusements, he gave to them only the time 
that was his own; that belonging to his employer was scru- 
pulously spent in furthering the interests of the latter. No 
soldier of martial Rome, held to his post by the iron hand 
of duty, ever displayed more unswerving fidelity than did 
Grover Cleveland, and the character thus built up by noble 
self-denial and firm adherence to truth and trust, shine as 
brightly to-day as they did in the days of his boyish clerk- 
ino; in the villao-e store. 

Honor and integrity, the dual guardians of the upright, 
thus strengthened him for his combats with poverty and 
adverse circumstances in life's broad arena, and his experi- 
ence in the school of adversity, probably saved him from 
degenerating into a mere clerk, satisfied with the daily 
routine of paltry duties. While filling the position of a 
clerk, however, none ever knew of his ardent longings for 
something higher and nobler; there was no repining against 
his lot, but it was bravely borne, though the determination 
to cleave his way to fortune and to fame, never died in the 
breast of the seemingly contented boy. 



42 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER II. 
DEATH OF Cleveland's fateer. 



A DESIRABLE CLERK. OFFERED EXTRAVAGANT WAGES. AT 

SCHOOL AGAIN. A MODEL STUDENT. A HEALTHY CHARACTER. 

LEADER AND CHAMPION. FIGHTING OTHERS' BATTLES. THE 

VILLAGE BULLY BEATEN. SAVING HIS ENEMY'S LIFE. CLEVE- 
LAND'S DISPOSITION DESCRIBED. THE REMOVAL TO HOLLAND 

PATENT. A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS. DEATH OF CLEVELAND'S 

FATHER. GROVER'S VISIT TO UTICA. A TERRIBLE SURPRISE. 

A YOUNG STOIC. A CRUEL MESSAGE. A NOBLE COMFORTER. 

THE FAMILY BROKEN UP. INJUSTICE TO COUNTRY MINISTERS. 

FOLLOWING GKOVER'S FORTUNES; FOUNDED UPON A ROCK. 

CALUMNY AND ENMITY. INDOMITABLE ENERGY.^ FAITH 

AND TRUTH. 

When Grover had completed his second year's clerical 
duties the merchant was more desirous than ever to keep 
him, and in fact offered him what were then extravagant 
wages and an engagement for an indefinite length of time — 
as many years as he chose to stay — if he would only re- 
main. What the boy might have concluded to do is doubt- 
ful, but just then his father made another remove — this 
time to Clinton — and as there was a high school at that 
place, Grover decided to accompany the family and drink 
deeper draughts from that Pierian spring that had been so 
long denied. 

In the school he proved a model student, as in the store 
he had proved a model clerk, and his progress was rapid. 
No time was wasted in folly, and the teachers marvelled at 
the robust youth, who, though brimming over with animal 
spirits, made ever^^thing secondary to the acquisition of 
knowledge, as if he had laid down for himself a system 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 



43 



from which there was to be no deviation. While in the 
school there was no silly sport, no vacuous idling, with this 
boy, though amongst his comrades on the play-ground he 
could be as boisterous as any of them. 

It must not be thought that the boy was a milksop, or a 
Miss Nancy, too lackadaisical and young-lady ish to enjoy 
boyish pastimes. On the contrary, he was the leader in all 
sports, and the champion of all who were weaker or more 
timid than himself. His boyish battles were many, though 




YOUNG CLEVELAND — THE MODEL CLERK. 



one of his school mates says that he really believed that 
** Grover never had an enemy." 

In explanation of this contradictory statement, he said 
that while often eno^aojed in fiojhtino: the battles of others 
yet he seemed to have none of his own, and he mentioned a 
case in which the moral courao:e of Cleveland showed forth 
remarkably. While at Fayetteville the young clerk was 
noted for his hatred of all kinds of imposition and injus- 
tice, and when he detected the burly village bully imposing 



44 



LIFE AND PUBLIC SEKVICES OF 




GROVER CLEVELAND. 45 

upon a small boy, he unhesitatingly threw himself into the 
breach to defend the weaker side. 

The bully astonished at this inteference with his privi- 
leges turned quickly upon young Cleveland and asked him 
what he meant by interfering with him. *'I mean," said 
the fearless boy, **to prevent you from imposing on a 
little fellow that can't defend himself." ''Little fellow," 
said the bully in amazement, '*why he's fully as big as you 
are, and I can lick half a dozen of you." 

*'If you ever undertake it, you'll find that one is about 
all you'll want to handle," said Cleveland. 

At this the bully seized Cleveland by the collar, intending 
to give him such a threshing as would prevent any future 
inteference from this manly advocate of fair play. 

While taken by surprise, the indomitable courage of the 
boy at once asserted itself, and although inferior in size to 
the bully, yet his thews and sinews had been hardened and 
strengthened by continual exercise and he did not despair 
of victory. Grasping the shoulder of the bully with his 
left hand he planted a stinging blow in his face with the 
right, and as his opponent recoiled, with a skillful kick he 
tripped and threw him heavily. To jump upon him and 
batter him until he cried for quarter was the clerk's next 
move, and he was then allowed to rise, completely crest fallen. 

It was not three months after this until young Cleveland 
saved the life of the bully, who had fallen into a deep 
slough from which he was unable to extricate himself, and 
into Avhose treacherous quagmire he was becoming rapidly 
engulfed. "That was just his disposition," said our in- 
formant, "he'd whip a boy one day, if he was guilty of any 
cruelty or injustice and then turn the very next and take 
his part, if he saw him in trouble. 



4G 



LITE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 




GROVER CLEVELAND. 47 

From Clinton Cleveland's father made another move — 
going up on Black river to the town then known as the 
Holland Patent, a thriving little village containing some five 
or six hundred inhabitants, and located about fifteen miles 
north of Utica. This ^vas destined to be the last station of 
this nol)le old soldier of the cross, for here, like Moses up- 
on the hoary top of mighty Pisgah, he was destined to lay 
down the leadership of his master's flock and to enter into 
the joys of his Lord. 

For three Sundays only did he fill his pulpit, and then 
suddenly, '*like a thief in the night," came the grim reaper 
and gathered him into the fold of the faithful. For him 
there was to be no more of earth's sorrows and distress; 
Providence had opened to him the joys of immortality 
through the awful gate of death and the appalling * 'valley 
of the shadow." The poet has truly said that for the good 

'There is no death, 
What seems so is transition; — 
Tliis life of mortal breath 
Is hut a suburb of the life Elysian, 
Whose portal we call death." 

Through the gloomy portal of the grave the faithful 
spirit of the venerable servant of God had entered into Para- 
dise, but this knowledge could not hush the anguished sobs 
of the stricken family, nor bring at once the "respite and 
nepenthe" that time's soothing touch alone can give. 

Grover Cleveland and his sister were on a visit to Utica 
and a messenger was sent there at full speed to announce the 
dread news to them. Seeing them upon the street, the 
messenger announced his errand with the bluntness of unin- 
tentional cruelty. The youth staggered under the blow, but 
though his face blanched to the pallor of death with the an- 



48 



LITE AND PUBLIC SERVICES Or 




GROVER CLEVELAND. 



49 



guish that was preying upon his heart, yet he nobly sought 
to control his own grief and to comfort the moaning and 



trembling girl at his side. 




THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT HOLLAND PATENT. 

After the funeral came that saddest of all partings, the 
breaking up of a family, that owing to th<5 removal of its 



50 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

support can no longer be held together. Who has not seen, 
and far too often, this cruel spectacle, and where oftener 
than in the families of country ministers? It is but a sad 
commentary upon the gratitude of our congregations, that 
to the blackness of the shadow of the death angel is added 
the thought ever present to the dying minister, that with his 
existence must terminate the tie that holds together his loved 
ones in that dearest of all bonds, the family circle. 

From this time on we shall follow out the fortunes of but 
a single member of the famil}^; that one that we have seen 
as the clerk at Fayetteville, the student at Clinton and 
everywhere the champion of justice and honor. Now that 
the head of the family is removed, will he still retain his 
old love of honesty and truth? Will his Spartan sim[)licity 
and faith and his Roman sense of duty continue as of yore? 
Of this there is no more doubt than that the needle will con- 
tinue faithful to the pole, or that the glorious day will follow 
the darksome night. 

Like the house of old, founded upon a rock, though the 
storms of adversity and temptation may burst in fury upon 
him, his character is too w^ell and solidly founded to suc- 
cumb to their influences. Miefortunes may overtake him, 
as they have the bravest and the best; calumny and enmity 
may seek to smirch with their unhallowed slime his fair 
unclouded fame, but dishonor and dishonesty can never 
reach him, panoplied as he is in the impenetrable armor of 
faith and truth. 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 61 



CHAPTER III. 

ON THE ROAD TO FORTUNE. 



GROVER CLEVELAND'S NEXT EMPLOYMENT. TEACHING THE BLIND. 

IN SEARCH OP HIS PORTUNE. A HARMLESS SUPERSTITION. 

THE COURSE OP EMPIRE. ACCOMPLISHING HIS DESTINY. 

STOPS AT BUFPALO. VISITS HIS UNCLE. A PRACTICAL 

MAN CLEVELAND'S DETERMINATION. A SITUATION OFPERED 

AND ACCEPTED. FIRST PRINCIPLES. ROGERS, BOWEN & ROG- 
ER'S OFFICE BOY. CATALOGUING CATTLE. MUNIFICENT REC- 
OMPENSE. ''A FAIR FIELD AND NO FAVORS." A DREARY 

WINTER. CLEVELAND'S INDOMITABLE COURAGE. A CON- 
TRASTED DESTINY. SYBARITIC TASTES. THE TWO COMBAT- 
ANTS. A CHEERLESS CHAMBER. SUFFERINGS AND DEPRIVA- 
TIONS. THE USES OF ADVERSITY. A RARE JEWEL. POVER- 
TY'S CHILDREN. 

Grover Cleveland's first employment, after the death of 
his father, was as an under teacher in an asylum for the 
blind in New York City. His duties here were irksome, 
but we suppose that the reader will not need to be informed 
that they were faithfully and ably performed. For two 
years the dreary routine was kept up, and then feeling his 
mission in life was not that of a tutor, he determined to set 
out in search of his fortune. 

Possessed by a superstition from which none of us are 
entirely free, he thought that the city of Cleveland, from 
its name, would prove a place of good omen, and he turned 
his face toward the o-olden West, and followinof the guidance 
of the bright star of empire, he toiled steadily onward to- 
ward the self-appointed goal. His heart, like his pocket, 
was light, but a braver, more self-reliant one never beat in 
a human bosom, and in his lexicon the word fail had been 
omitted. 



52 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Hercules settins: about his twelve labors was no more con- 
fident of a successful outcome, andthe Argo's gallant sailors 
never more willingly, with anchor apeak and bellying sails, 
ventured out into the unknown ocean, than did this boy, 
whom destiny had marked for noble accomplishments. When 
he turned his back upon the great American Babel and 
launched himself on the unknown and untried billows of 
fortune's boisterous seas, it was with nothing of reluctance 
or regret. 

On his way to Cleveland he stopped at Buffalo to see and 
counsel with a maternal uncle, Lewis F. Allan, noted 
throughout the country for the excellence of the cattle bred 
by him. The reception given by this relative was one that 
would have discouraged most youths, but Grover had met 
with too many buffets to be easily turned aside; in fact, his 
whole life, so far, had been but little else than one misfor- 
tune after another, but these adverse winds had never caused 
him to reo-ret the safe harbors of the villaj^e store and the 
blind school. 

*' Well, my boy I what are your intentions ; what do you 
intend to do for a livinoj?" said Mr. Allan. 

" I intend to be a lawyer," said the boy, *' but of course 
I've got to find some office where I can get a chance to read." 

*' Thunder!" said the old farmer, *'what put that into 
your head ? When are you going to begin ! At what place? 
And how much money have you got?" 

Grover replied to this string of questions by saying that 
he had always intended to be a lawyer; that he would begin 
at the very first opportunity and place, and that he had no 
money. 

*' And yet you expect to read law?" queried Mr. Allan, 
after hearing his last statement as to his impecuniosity. 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 



53 




d^^- 



f/ r' 




YOUNG CLEVELAND'S WINTER HOME NEAR BUFFALO. 
OLD RESIDENCE OF LEWIS P. ALLAN. 



54 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

*' Expect to 1" said Grover in reply, *' I not only expect 
to, but I intend to." 

Seeing that, as he expressed it, there was *^ something in 
the boy," Mr. Allan offered hiin a home and fifty dollars a 
year, if he would edit for him a voluminous stock book that 
he was then enojaojed in gettino^ out. In the intervals of his 
labor, he could have a chance to look around and see about 
furthering his prospects by obtaining a place in some 
lawyer's office. 

Grover smiled to himself and thous^ht of this return to 
first principles, but quickly accepted the position with its 
paltry compensation, since he determined that by its aid he 
would secure the place for which he longed, as clerk for 
some attorney. 

Allan's farm was two miles from the city of Buffalo, but 
in the midst of his labors, cataloguing short-horns and Jer- 
seys and turning his hand to anything that offered, Grover 
often walked into the city, and on one of these trips suc- 
ceeded in entering himself as office boy with the legal firm 
of Rogers, Bowen & Eogers. In return for his services in 
opening up and sweeping out the office, he was allowed the 
use of the library and the sum of four dollars weekly, out 
of which munificent salary he had to pay for his board and 
washing. 

He still made his home with his uncle, and even had the 
latter been sufficiently generous to have refused pay for his 
nephew's board, the student was possessed of too sturdy a 
sense of independence to have accepted it. *'A fair field 
and no favors" seemed to have been his ado^oted motto, and 
certainly no one ever clung more tenaciously to his prin- 
ciples. 

The first winter of his attendance to his office duties was 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 



55 




SHOCKING CORN AT MR. ALLAN'S. 



56 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OE 

one of the severest ever known, but back and forth on his 
rough journey he toiled with manly determination, never 
missing a single day and never being even a minute tardy. 
In the path of dut}^ whether marked out by himself or by 
others, his feet never faltered, and having once put his hand 
to the plough, he never looked back. With leaking shoes 
and without an overcoat, he braved the fierce storms and 
upheld by a determination and a courage as indomitable as 
a demi-god's, bade defiance to their wrath. 

At about the same time, in another section of the country, 
a youth of the moneyed aristocracy, pampered and petted, 
was, under private tutors and in costly colleges, making a 
record for brilliancy and talent. To him the iron bondage 
of poverty was unknown. Shielded from the summer's 
heat and the winter's storm, the Midas touch of fortune 
procured for him not only the necessaries of life, but its 
costliest luxuries. 

Imbibing the tastes of the sybarite, and pandered to by 
well-paid attendants, is it to be wondered at that he lacks 
the firmness, the honor, the honesty and the simplicity that 
characterizes the combatant he must meet in the lists of 
American politics to do battle in November for the costli- 
est and grandest gift that graces the footstool of the gracious 
Lord of the universe — the gift of the American Presidency, 
presented by the ballots of millions of freemen to one of 
themselves as a reward for services rendered and expected? 

At night, often compelled to dry his wet clothing by 
hugging close to the chimney that passed through the little 
attic room in Avhich he slept, his life at this period is an ex- 
ample of self-denial and perseverance rarely equalled and 
never excelled. It was a hard life for one so young, for 
youth is the season of joy and carelessness and pleasure, 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 57 

but out of this stern hardness of fortune — whose barest re- 
cital would make a pathetic idyl — was born undying courage, 
unshrinking determination and a god-like rectitude of pur- 
pose, that have repaid him a thousand fold for his youthful 
sufferings and deprivations ; that have given to him the re- 
spect and honor of his fellows, and that have raised him 
steadily to exalted positions of trust and usefulness. 

Looking upon the career of Grover Cleveland, from his 
childhood to the present time, let none of us say that poverty 
has not its uses and that it is altoo-ether io^noble. 

"Sweet are the uses of adversity, 
Which like tlie toad though ugly and venomous. 
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head," 

sine's the grandest master that ever laid the touch of a 
magician upon the chords of the hearts of humanity and 
sounded to their depths the wells of human knowledge, 
passion and feeling, and it is well for us that under the 
frightful outward aspect of cold and cruel poverty she con- 
ceals a glittering jewel of rarest worth, but all unknown 
and unattainable by any but her children. 



58 LITE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER IV. 

SUCCESSES AND REVERSES. 



CLEVELAND'S ADAPTABILITY. IN THE HARVEST FIELD. A BOY 

THAT ALWAYS SUCCEEDED. THE YOUNG STUDENT. HOW TO 

BEGIN. THE LAWYER'S GUIDE. UNTIRING APPLICATION. 

AN AWKWARD PREDICAMENT. MAKING THE BEST OF IT. A 

HARD ROAD TO TRAVEL. A TIMELY PRESENT. A HARD WIN- 
TER. CLEVELAND'S FIRST HONOR. A GENIAL JOKER. 

CLEVELAND APPOINTED CHIEF CLERK. A COMRADE'S TRIBUTE. 

APPOINTED ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY. MAGNANIMOUS 

FRIENDS. A WILLING WORKER. AN INCOMPARABLE OFFICER. 

NOMINATED FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY. A POOR POLITICIAN. 

A SYMPATHETIC JUDGE. DUTY FIRST, INTEREST AFTER- 
WARD. HOW HE ACCEPTED DEFEAT. EQUAL TO EITHER 

FORTUNE. A TRUE PHILOSOPHER. 

Always accommodating, Grover helped his uncle out of 
many a close place when help was scarce or unattainable. 
With true American adaptability he could do anything he 
could see any one else do, and once when chaffed by Mr. 
Allan about his livinof on a farm and beinoj unable to cradle 
wheat he said, "That's so, a man ought to know how to cut 
wheat, so I'll just go out and learn.'* 

**Pshaw, boy !" said Mr. Allan jokingly, **it would take 
you years to learn how to cradle well enough to do a day's 
work." 

*'We'll see about that," said Grover coolly, and he started 
for the wheat field where the men were at work reaping and 
binding the golden grain. At first he was rather awkward 
in handling the cradle, but after a few instructions from an 
experienced reaper he swung along blithely, and without 
difficulty kept in the line with the other harvesters. Mr. 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 



59 




IN THE HARVEST FIEL?: 



60 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Allan, who had gone to the field expecting to witness Gro- 
ver's failure, afterward told a neighbor that the boy would 
attempt anything and that he always succeeded. 

The first morning that the youth appeared at the law 
office of Rogers, Brown & Rogers, he asked the senior 
member of the firm how he should begin the study of law. 
The old gentleman told him to sit down at a table, and 
then going to the library he took out a volume of Black- 
stone and slapping it down before the boy with a loud bang 
he said : 

*' That's the lawyer's law and gospel. That's where they 
all begin. That's the essence of all law, and it's like the 
Bible, you can't read it too long, too often, nor too atten- 
tively." 

"With this gruff advice as to how to master the law's mys- 
teries, he marched off and Grover was soon deeply im- 
mersed in the writer, who could make even the dry and te- 
dious rules of law an agreeable study. 

As he did everything else so he studied law, thoroughly 
and conscientiously, audit is told by his fellow students that 
so intense was his application to his books, that one even- 
ing he was overlooked and locked up in the office while im- 
mersed in his studies. When he ascertained the predica- 
ment into which Blackstone had led him, he made the best 
of the situation, and instead of vain attempts at securing his 
release,()r vague repinings, he buckled to his book with re- 
newed vigor and spent the night in study. 

Black Rock was the name of his uncle's farm, and one 
night when he had trudsjed throuofh snow and sleet over the 
rough and jagged winter roads from Buffalo to the farm, he 
found his uncle standing at the gate and evidently in the 
humor for a little good humored badinage. 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 61 

**Not tired of the law yet?" he asked Grover, as the lat- 
ter panted up to the gate, *'it seems to me it's Jike Jordan, 
a hard road to travel." 

*'It may be, sir !" said Grover, *'but I'm going to follow 
\t to the end, if I only last to get there." 

'*I believe you will, boy !" said the old farmer kindly, 
"if anybody will, I believe you will." 

"But," he said, giving the conversation a new turn, 
"ain't it rather cold travelling for you without an overcoat ? 
It seems to me its rather wintry to-day." 

"Oh, the cold's nothing to speak of," said Grover, "and 
besides I'm going to get some copying to do soon and then 
I'll buy me one.' 

"And your feet," said Mr. Allan, "why they must be 
soaking wet, ain't they?" 

"Oh that's nothing," replied the youth, "I'll get a pair 
of boots too, when I get the copying." 

"That may be all right, but you go to-morrow to my 
tailor and get a good heavy overcoat without waiting for 
the copying," said farmer Allan, whose generosity was 
moved by the boy's magnificent fight against adversity. 

This little incident must have caused the worthy stockman 
to notice his nephew more closely, for it was not long after- 
ward that in compiling a second "Herd Book" he an- 
nounced to Grover that he intended to reward him for 
the effective assistance he had rendered by a public recogni- 
tion, in the book, of the valuable services of Grover Cleve- 
land. With the hearty good humor inseparable from the 
man, Governor Cleveland often tells of this, the first public 
honor ever paid to him. 

For four years Grover not only read but ardently studied 
law in the office in which he had first entered as office boy, 



62 LITE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

and then he was appointed to the responsible position of 
head clerk. This appointment did not result from any fa- 
voritism, but from indisputable merit, as his fellow clerks 
were sfenerous enouofh to admit. The followins; tribute 
from one of his companions at that time shows how he im- 
pressed those with whom he came in daily contact. 

*'Grover won our admiration by his three traits of indom- 
itable industry, unpretentious courage and unswerving 
honesty. I never saw a more thorough man at anything he 
undertook. Whateverthe subject was, he was reticent until 
he had mastered all its bearings and made up his own mind 
— and then nothino: could swerve him from his conviction. 
It was this quality of intellectual integrity more than any- 
thing else, perhaps, that made him afterwards listened to and 
respected when more brilliant men who were opposed to 
him were applauded and forgotten." 

Four years more passed in this monotonous manner, and 
the year 18G3 came around. It brought with it a question 
as to which of the young attorneys in Rogers & Bo wen's 
offices should be appointed Assistant District Attorney for 
Erie county. Each one of the young men realized that the 
acquisition of this position would be a most important one, 
and each used every endeavor to secure it. We say each 
one, but this statement must be qualified, for Grover Cleve- 
land neither asked nor worked for the appointment. As in 
after-life he did not seek the office, but let it seek him. 

A thorough canvass of the question amongst the clerks 
satisfied one and all that of right the appointment belonged 
to Cleveland, and with a magnanimity deserving of the ut- 
most praise, each subordinated his own claim to the office 
and advocated that of Cleveland. It is needless to say that 
he obtained the position, and thus was Grover Cleveland 



G ROVER CLEVELAND. ' 63 

first ushered into public life. Luckily for the assistant at- 
torney, his principal was disposed to ease off his burdens 
on to the shoulders of his younger coadjutor, and the young 
lawyer not only saw a great deal of miscellaneous practice, 
but also gained a vast experience and insight into human 
character and the affairs of life. 

Pursuing his duties with a zeal characteristic of the man, 
Cleveland made a magnificent ofiicer — the best that Erie 
county had ever had. His whole time and attention was 
devoted to the county business, and when he was drafted 
for service in the army, his absence would have proved an 
irreparable injury to the cause of justice, and it was pro- 
nounced by all that it was his duty to stay and attend to 
what no other man could, and he promptly furnished a sub- 
stitute. 

In 1865, so well had he filled the post to which he had 
been appointed, that the Democrats nominated him for the 
District-Attorney ship. The nomination was not sought by 
him any more than his api)ointment had been, and in fact 
he suggested to the politicians of his party that there were 
others who might make a more successful race, and who 
would certainly make a more energetic canvass than he 
would be able to do. 

In spite of all this he received the nomination, and as he 
had told the leaders of his party, he was too occupied by 
numerous important cases in the courts to give his time to 
electioneering amongst the voters. On the very day of the 
election he was trying a case in court, when the judge, re- 
membering the interests Cleveland had at stake, adjourned 
the court and told him to go out and attend to his canvass. 
His attention came too late, and Lyman K. Bass, the Re- 
publican candidate, was elected. 



64 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Accepting his defeat with the utmost cheerfuhiess, young 
Clevehmd proved his superiority over the mere accident of 
success, and well merits Hamlet's encomium on his friend 
Horatio, for he was truly 

*' Equal to either fortune." 

Success never unduly elated him, nor did reverses cast him 
down or impair the fine temper of his disposition. Like a 
true philosopher, such a man is freed 

"Of hope to rise, or fear to fall, 
Lord of himself, if not of lands, 
And having nothing yet hath all." 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 65 



CHAPTER V. 



OFFICIAL LIFE IN BUFFALO. 



CLEVELAND'S LAW PARTNERS. NOMINATED FOR SHERIFF OF ERIE 

COUNTY. A WINNING RACE. A NON-PARTISAN ADMINISTRA- 
TION. AN ERA OP REFORM. A NEW FIRM. CLEVELAND'S 

LAW AND POLITICS. A BROAD-GUAGE MAN. UNIVERSALLY 

POPULAR. BUFFALO IN THE TOILS OF THE RINGS. SEEKING 

A SAVIOR. CLEVELAND NOMINATED FOR MAYOR. A POLITICAL 

TIDAL WAVE. AN UNPRECEDENTED MAJORITY. POLITICAL 

THUNDER STORMS. PURITY IN POLITICS. CLEVELAND'S LET- 
TER OF ACCEPTANCE. THE PEOPLE'S TRUSTEES. VERY OLD 

TRUTHS. SINCERE PROMISES. CLEVELAND'S PLEDGES. 

TRUE DEMOCRATIC DOCTRINES. A GRAND OLD PARTY. SUC- 
CESS OF THE REPUBLIC. 

In 1866 Cleveland formed a partnership with the late I. 
K. Vanderpool, and this partnership continued until 1869, 
the firm doing a large business. His next partners were A. 
P. Laning and Oscar Folsom both now deceased. This 
last partnership continued for only two years, being then 
dissolved by the election of Cleveland to the office of 
Sheriff of Erie county. The nomination for this office was 
another unsought expression of popular esteem, which his 
administration fully justified. 

His term was distinguished by the most exact justice and 
an utter disregard of partisan interests. It was as consci- 
entious and as thorough as had been his discharge of every 
other trust, and unconsciously Cleveland was making his- 
tory as a reformer. Packed juries and straw bail were un- 
known in the courts while he was sheriff, and of Erie county 



66 LIFE AXD PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

at that time the wily old cardinal would have realized his 

pet dream, 

"For justice all place a temple 
And all season summer." 

When his term as Sheriff came to an end he associated 
himself with Wilson S. Bissell and Lyman K. Bass, his for- 
mer opponent for the office of District Attorney. This firm 
was able and successful, but the health of Mr. Bass eventu- 
ally became so delicate that he was forced to withdraw and 
go to Colorado, and thus the firm became known as Cleve- 
land and Bissell until 1881, when George J. Sicard was ad- 
mitted as a member of the firm, which then became known 
as Cleveland, Bissell and Sicard. 

Too thoroughly honest to be a finished electioneering 
politician, Cleveland was too thorough a lawyer to descend 
to the chicanery of the petifogger, but his methods were all 
those of the honest and conscientious attorney, who might 
lose a case on its merits, but who could not stoop to any- 
thing low and mean to gain one. This honesty rendered 
him universally popular and respected, and while all of the 
lawyers at the Buffalo bar feared him as a shrewd and able 
opponent, yet all esteemed him as the soul of honesty and 
honor. 

In 1881, the city of Buffalo, writhing under the oppres- 
sion and corruption of the municipal rings that had fastened 
upon her and were fast driving her to ruin, sought out a 
man whose probity and fidelity should be no uncertain 
quantities, and the nomination for Mayor was tendered to 
Grover Cleveland. Hopeless of aid from their own party, 
all of the Republicans, who had anything at stake, joined 
the forces of the Democracy and placed the sterling Demo- 
cratic reformer at the head of municipal affairs. 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 67 

His majority was unprecedented; he was carried into 
office by one of those political tidal waves that now and then 
rise against fraud and corruption and dash them headlong 
from the high places which they infest. It is such magnifi- 
cent outbursts of popular indignation as these that tend to 
restore confidence in the sovereignty of the people, and that 
prove to the cynic and the doubter that the voice of the 
people is truly the voice of God. These are the political 
cyclones and thunder storms that purify the atmosphere of 
the body politic. 

It had become understood in Erie county, and was soon 
to be made known to the whole country, that whatever 
office Grover Cleveland might fill, would be administered 
with all the faithfulness, truth and honesty that the vested 
priest at the altar gives to his worship. The slimy hands 
of fraud and felonious ringsters felt that with him at the helm 
they must relinquish their grasp on the throat of the munic- 
ipality and make way for a new order of affairs. 

His letter of acceptance — in which there is not a single 
word of the buncombe and clap-trap that usually distin- 
guish such documents — shows, better than anything else can, 
the views of this true Democrat. We give it here in full: 

''Gentlemen of the Convention: — I am informed that 
you have bestowed upon me the nomination for the office of 
Mayor. It certainly is a great honor to be thought fit to be 
the chief officer of a great and properous city like ours, 
having such important and varied interests. I hoped that 
your choice might fall upon some other and more worthy 
member of the city Democracy, for personal and private 
considerations have made the question of acceptance on my 
part a difficult one. But because I am a Democrat, and be- 
cause I think no one has a right at this time of all others to 
consult his own inclinations as against the call of hisp.'irty and 
fellow-citizens, and hoping that I may be of use to you in 



68 LIFE AND rUBLIC SERVICES OF 

your efforts to inaugurate a better rule in municipal affairs, 
I accept the nomination tendered to me. I believe much can 
be done to relieve our citizens from their present load of 
taxation, and that a more rigid scrutiny of all public expend- 
itures will result in a great saving to the community. I 
also believe that some extravagances in our city government 
may be corrected without injury to the public service. 
There is, or there should be, no reason why the affairs of 
our city should not be managed with the same care and the 
same economy as private interests. And when we consider 
that public officials are the trustees of the people, and hold 
their places and exercise their powers for the benefit of the 
people, there should be no higher inducement to a faithful 
and honest discharge of public duty. 

** These are very old truths; but I cannot forbear to 
speak in this strain to-day, because I believe the time has 
come when the people loudly demand that these principles 
shall be sincerely, and without mental reservation, adopted 
as a rule of conduct. And I am assured that the result of 
the campaign upon which we enter to-day will demonstrate 
that the citizens of Buffalo will not tolerate the man or the 
party who has been unfaithful to public trusts. I say these 
thingfs to a convention of Democrats because I know that 
the grand old party is honest, and they cannot be unwelcome 
to you. Let us then in all sincerity promise the people an 
improvement in our municipal affairs; and if the opportu- 
nity is offered to us, as it surely will be, let us faithfully 
keep that promise. By this means, and by this means 
alone, can our success rest upon a firm foundation and our 
party ascendancy be permanently assured. Our opponents 
will wage a bitter and determined warfare, but with united 
and hearty effort we shall achieve a victory for our entire 
ticket. And at this day, and with my record before you, 
I trust it is unnecessary for me to pledge to you my most 
earnest endeavors to bring about this result ; and if elected 
to the position for which you have nominated me, I shall do 
my whole duty to the i)arty, but none the less, I hope to 
the citizens of Buffalo." 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 69 

The modesty, determination and incorruptible integrity 
of the man speak out in every word and line of this letter, 
which for simplicity, clearness and honesty types truly the 
undying Democratic doctrines that have so far preserved 
the Republic from anarchy and the people from tyranny. 
As long as such leaders are developed by the grand old 
party we need never despair of the success of Republican 
government, nor of the onward progress of the brave old 
ship of state. 



70 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER VI. 

A MAN THAT MEASURES UP, 



AN ECCENTRIC OLD rREACIIER. HYPOCRITES DENOUNCED. THE 

UNJUST JUDGE. PARTIALITY AND BRIBERY. JUSTICE DE- 
FEATED. WILL HE MEASURE UP? A ROGUISH MERCHANT. 

SANDED SUGAR. SHORT YARDS. TAXES AND CONTRIBUTIONS. 

QUALITY OF HIS HONESTY. AN ALLEGED CHRISTIAN. 

HIS PERCENTAGE PRAYER. NOTES AND MORTGAGES. SIXTY 

POUNDS TO THE BUSHEL. MORE SHORT MEASURE. THE FINAL 

WEIGHING. THE SUBJECT EXHAUSTED. WHO WILL MEASURE 

UP. THE HONEST MAN DESCRIBED. CLEVELAND'S REFORM 

KULE. RING DEVIL-FISH DEFIED. AN ADDRESS TO THE PEO- 
PLE. DUTIES OF THE CITIZEN DEFINED. GOOD READING FOR 

ALL. 

In the early days of Kentucky there was an eccentric old 
Methodist preacher, named Jemmy Taylor, noted for his 
epigrammatic sayings which teemed with wit and good sense. 
In a sermon at the Bear Grass camp-ground near Louisville 
he delivered a telling sermon on the *' Scribes and Phari- 
sees, hypocrites," which was ever after known and remem- 
bered as the ** measuring up sermon." It was full of 
trenchant strokes at those who pretended to qualities and 
virtues which they should possess, but did not. 

In speaking of the judge placed upon the bench to do 
equal and even justice between the opposing sides, he 
pictured the infamies that, in the name of god-like impar- 
tiality, were too often perpetrated. He showed him seated 
in all his dignity, with the pleading counsellors and anxious 
clients before him, and in one hand the 

" Scales wherein law weigheth equity down," 
while in the other lay the unhallowed bribe that had caused 



G ROVER CLEVELAND. 



71 



him to pre-judge the case, pervert his high oflSce and soil 
the very majesty of the law itself. 

•*This man," he said, "this unjust judge, claims to be 
full weight, one hundred cents to the dollar and sixty 
pounds to the bushel of truth and honesty, but will he 
measure up, my friends, will he measure up? " 

He then spoke of the merchant sanding his sugar in the 




OLD JEMMY TAYLOR. 



silent watches of the night and tearing off thirty-four inches 
to the yard of cottons, calicoes and silks. 

**This man," said the fearless old cynic, *' pays his taxes 
because he has to, and his church contributions because it 
is popular. He won't pick your pocket, forge a check nor 
stop a man upon the highway, for these operations require 
more of nerve and animal courage than he possesses, but 



72 GROVER CLEVELAND. 

for all of that, do you think his honesty is heaped up and 
overflowing as it should be; in other words, do you think it 
will measure up?" 

<*And there, too, is the Christian," he continued, **who 
behind his prayer-book figures up his notes and mortgages, 
and exacts usurious interest from his brother. The prayer 
of such a man is not that his Heavenly Father shall give 
him this day his daily bread, but that He shall give him 




ONE WHO WILL "MEASURE UP." 

this year one hundred per cent. This man meets his in- 
debtedness promptly, supports his family and gives of his 
gains a pittance to the church and the heathen, but what do 
you think of his Christianity, my friends; do you believe 
that it will, in the last great day, upon the unerring scales 
of the Ancient of Days measure up to the requirements of 
his Master? Is it full, just and true — will it measure up?" 
In this manner he went on until he had pretty thoroughly 
exhausted his subject, and then he painted a glowing word 



G ROVER CLEVELAXD. 



73 



picture of the man, brave, noble, simple, true and honest ; the 
man that in all of the requirements of life did measure up. 
Such a man is Stephen Grovcr Cleveland, who in every 
position to which the voice and votes of the people have 
lifted him has measured up to the occasion. 

Elected Mayor of Buffalo to reform the abuses of the 
municipality, he set about his task and made a clean sweep 
of the Augean stables of thievery and corruption. The 
rings had the city by the throat and they held on with the 




THE MAN WHO WILL NOT "MEASURE UP." 



tenacity of their prototype, the sea octopus or devil-fish, but 

one by one he broke loose their grasp and drove them from 
their prey. He was one of those who knew his duty, 



*'And knowing dared maintain." 



His address on the occasion of the semi-centennial celebra- 
tion of the city of Buffalo, July 3, 1882, gives in a prac- 
tical and not unpoetical manner his ideas of the duty that 
the citizen owes to his government whether State, county, 



74 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

municipal, or national. We here re-produce the address in 
full, and every honest man will find it good and wholesome 
reading, which, in addition to its good sense, possesses the 
merit of patriotism, simplicity and brevity: 

* 'Ladies and Gentlemen: I ought, perhaps, to be quite 
content on this occasion to assume the part of quiet gratifi- 
cation. But I cannot forbear expressing my satisfaction at 
being allowed to participate in the exercises of the evening, 
and I feel that I must give token of the pleasure I experi- 
enced in gazing with you upon the fair face of our queen 
city at the age of fifty. I am proud with you in contrasting 
what seems to us the small things of fifty years ago, with 
the beauty and the greatness and the importance of to-day. 
The achievements of the past are gained ; the prosperity of 
the present we hold with a firm hand; and the promise of 
the future comes to us with no uncertain sound. It seems 
to me to-day, that of all men, the resident of Buffalo should 
be the proudest to name his home. 

In the history of a city, fifty years but marks the period 
of youth, when all is fresh and joyous. The face is fair, 
the step is light, and the burden of life is carried with a 
sons: ; the future stretchino: far ahead is full of brio:ht an- 
ticipation, and the past, with whatever of struggle and dis- 
appointment there may have been, seems short and is half 
forgotten. In this hey-day of our city's life, we do well to 
exchange our congratulations, and to revel together in the 
assurances of the happy and prosperous future that awaits us. 

And yet I do not deem it wrong to remind myself and 
you, that our city, great in its youth, did not suddenly 
spring into existence, clad in beauty and in strength. 
There were men fifty years ago, who laid its foundations 
broad and deep; and who, with the care of jealous parents, 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 75 

-tended it and watched its growth. Those early times were 
not without their trials and discouragements ; and we reap 
to-day the fruit of the labors and the perseverance of those 
pioneers. Those were the fathers of the city. Where are 
they? Fifty years added to manhood fills the cup of human 
life. Most have gone to swell the census of God's city, 
which lies beyond the stream of fate. A few there are who 
listlessly linger upon the bank, and wait to cross in the 
shade of the trees they have planted with their own hands. 
Let us tenderly remember the dead to-night ; and let us re- 
new our love and veneration for those who are spared to 
speak to us of the scenes attending our city's birth and in- 
fancy. 

And in this our day of pride and self-gratification there 
is, I think, one lesson at least, which we may learn from 
the men who have come down to us from a former genera- 
tion. In the day of the infancy of the city which they 
founded, and for many years afterwards, the people loved 
their city so well that they would only trust the manage- 
ment of its affairs in the strongest and best of hands ; and 
no man in those days was so engrossed in his own business 
but he could find some time to devote to public concerns. 
Read the names of the men who held places in this munic- 
ipality fifty years ago, and food for reflection will be 
found. Is it true that the city of to-day, with its large 
population, and with its vast and varied interests, needs 
less and different care than it did fifty years ago? 

We boast of our citizenship to-night. But this citizen- 
ship brings with it duties not unlike those we owe our 
neighbor and our God. There is no better time than this 
for self-examination. He who deems himself too pure and 
holy to take part in the affairs of his city, will meet the fact 



76 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

that better men than he have thought it their duty to do so. 
He who cannot spare a moment in his greed and selfishness 
to devote to public concerns, will perhaps find a well- 
grounded fear that he may become the prey of public plun- 
derers; and he who indolently cares not who administers the 
government of his city, will find that he is living falsely and 
in the neglect of his highest duty. 

When our centennial shall be celebrated, what will be said 
of us? I hope it maybe said that we built and wrought 
well, and added much to the substantial prosperity of the 
city we had in charge. Brick and mortar may make a large 

city ; but the encouragement of those things which elevate 
and purify; the exaction of the highest standard of integrity 
in official place, and a constant, active interest on the part 
of the good people in municipal government, are needed to 
make a great city. 

Let it be said of us when only our names and memory 
are left, in the centennial time, that we faithfully adminis- 
tered the trust which we received from our fathers, and 
religiously performed our parts in our day and generation, 
toward making our city not only prosperous, but truly 
great." 



G ROVER CLEVELAND. 77 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE people's candidate. 



A COMMON SENSE VIEW OF MATTERS. HOW GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

SHOULD BE ADMINISTERED. GOOD BUSINESS METHODS. WHAT 

TO AVOID. CLEVELAND'S INAUGURAL MESSAGE. TRUSTEES 

FOR THE PEOPLE. INDIVIDUAL HONESTY. A SACRED TRUST. 

THE VALUE OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS. A LARGE MAJORITY. 

ADDITIONAL POWERS. DESPAIRING CITIZENS. A PREPONDER- 
ANCE OF POWER. THEFT AND CORRUPTION. UNHOLY AIMS 

AND AMBITIONS. PUBLIC SENTIMENT DEFIED. THE OLD MAN 

OF THE SEA. AN UNHAPPY COUNTRY. A BEACON OF SAFETY. 

PROFITABLE READING MATTER. THE COURSE OF DECENT RE- 
PUBLICANS. RESOLUTIONS OF A BROOKLYN CLUB. BUT A STEP 

FROM DEMOCRACY. HOSTILE CRITICISM DEFIED. GROVER 

CLEVELAND TO THE FRONT. 

Cleveland, in his dealings with the affairs — State, county 
and municipal — with which he has been entrusted, has al- 
ways taken a common sense and safe view of the matter. 
He has endeavored, as nearly as possible, to apply to them 
the rules and principles which should and do govern a good 
business man in the management of his own private con- 
cerns. Certainly no more honest method could be adopted, 
for in conducting his individual business affairs, every good 
business man will, as far as it is in his power, avoid all 
waste and extravagance. 

As Cleveland expressed it in his inaugural message to 
the Common Council of Buffalo: 

*'We who are elected to offices of trust and honor, 
hold the money of the people in our hands, to be used 
for their purposes and to further their interests as mem- 
bers of the municipality; and it is quite apparent that 



78 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

wiien any part of the funds which the taxpayers have 
thus entrusted us, are diverted to other purposes, or 
when, by design or neglect, we allow a greater sum 
to be applied to any municipal purpose than is neces- 
sary, we have to that extent, violated our duty. There 
surely is no difference in his duties and obligations, whether 
a person is entrusted with the money of one man or many. 
And yet it sometimes appears as though the office-holder 
assumes that a different rule of fidelity prevails between 
him and the taxpayer than that which should regulate his 
conduct when, as an individual, he holds the money of his 
neighbor. 

It seems to me that a successful and faithful administra- 
tion of the government of our city may be accomplished by 
constantly bearing in mind that we are the trustees and 
agents of our fellow-citizens, holding their funds in sacred 
trust, to be expended for their benefit; that we should at 
all times be prepared to render an honest account of them, 
touching the manner of their expenditure; and that the 
affairs of the city should be conducted, as far as possible, 
upon the same principles as a good business man manages 
his private concerns. 

And I, perhaps, should do no less than to assure your hon- 
orable body that so far as it is in my power I shall be glad 
to co-operate with you in securing the faithful performance 
of official duty in every department of the city government. 
* * * Our public schools are matters of such vital pub- 
lic concern and so intimately connected with good citizen- 
ship, that I recommend all necessary measures to be taken 
to promote their usefulness and efficiency." 

Some may say that these are very fair doctrines and very 
specious promises, but did the man *' measure up" to them? 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 79 

For answer to this question, we will refer all doubters to a 
majority of nearly two hundred thousand citizens of his 
State, who, upon his record as Disti-ict Attorney, Sheriff and 
Mayor, placed him in the Gubernatorial Chair to carry out, 
on a larger scale, his measures of reform. 

When Cleveland was made chief of the city government 
of Buffalo, it was at a time when honest citizens were begin- 
ning to have grave doubts as to the possibility of securing 
an honest administration of affairs, municipal oi national. 
The Republican party had for a quarter of a century held 
the reins of government and the preponderance of polit- 
ical power, and secure in its undisturbed sway, it was fes- 
tering in the foulest corruption. Its principle gone when 
the freedom of the slave was accomplished, its honest men 
had deserted it, and it became a band of political despera- 
does and outlaws, whose sole ambition was office and whose 
sole aim was plunder. 

Time and again had efforts at reform been made, and 
time and a^am had these been defeated. Riotino^ in rob- 
bery, the Radical thieves defied public sentiment, and hold- 
ing their positions by theft and bribery, outraged all 
patriotism and decency. Like the Old Man of the Sea 
upon the neck of the luckless Sinbad, they seemed immov- 
ably fixed in their places, and honest, patriotic citizens 
began to despair of the fate of the country, which had be- 
come the shame of Americans and the jeer of all other 
nationalities. 

In this strait the citizens of the Empire State had their 
attention drawn to the reform Mayor of Buffalo, as the 
eyes of the nation had a few years before been attracted by 
Tilden, the reform Governor. His messages became pop- 
ular reading matter and extracts from them were quoted 



80 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

not only by the Democratic papers, but by the ablest and 
best of the Kepublican journals. The unblushing thefts 
and downright forgeries of the Eepublican leaders were 
fully exposed, and the honest Eepublicans either held aloof 
from the polls or gave their votes to a man they knew to be 
honest, and therefore safe. 

To show how disgusted honorable men of all parties had 
become with the methods of the Republican machine, we 
give the following resolutions adopted by the Brooklyn 
Young Eepublican Club, an organization distinguished for 
its respectability and influence: 

^^ Resolved^ That the Brooklyn Young Eepublican Club, 
true to the principles of its constitution and to the high 
standard which has governed its actions in the past, 

1. Approves and endorses the manly and patriotic con- 
duct of Seth Low in refusing to use his official position and 
power, as Mayor of the City of Brooklyn, for partisan ends. 

2. Denounces and condemns the interference of the 
Federal administration with the free action of the people of 
this State in the selection of candidates for Governor and 
Lieutenant-Governor, and declares its loyalty to the prin- 
ciple of home rule as well for the State in matters local to 
the State, as for the city in matters local to the city. 

3. Denounces and condemns the political methods and 
practices by which the recent Eepublican nominations for 
Governor and Lieutenant-Governor were secured as dis- 
graceful to the party and to the country. 

4. Declares that nominations obtained by such methods 
are entitled to no respect, and impose no party obligations 
upon Eepublicans to support them ; but it cordially ap- 
proves and heartily indorses the nominations of the Hon. 
Charles Andrews for Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 



81 



and of the Hon. A. B. Hepburn for Congressman at Large, 
and the Brooklyn Young Kepublican Club hereby pledges 
them its most earnest and active support. 

5. That the equivocal political platitude in the Republi- 
can platform to the effect that * The practice of appealing 




ONE WHO don't believe IN REFORM. 

to the Legislature to override the action of the local author- 
ities when confining themselves within the powers conferred 
upon them, should be discouraged both by the Legislature 
and the Governor, and should be resorted to only in ex- 
treme cases,' is in no sense a satisfactory expression of the 
views of this club upon the vital question of home rule. 



82 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

6. Expresses the hope that other Republican organiza- 
tions throughout the State, already in existence and soon to 
be formed, which approve the foregoing views, will publicly 
announce their position and condemn practices which, if 
permitted to be successful, will destroy either the Republi- 
can party or the manhood of its members, and the Brook- 
lyn Young Republican Club hereby invites correspondence 
with such organizations." 

There is the ring of Democracy in these resolutions, and 
their advocates made but a short step, and one in the right 
direction, when they gave their ballots to such a man as 
Grover Cleveland. They had watched his course as Mayor 
of Buffalo, as Sheriff of Erie county and as its Assistant 
District-Attorney ; they had noted his action in his contest 
with the thieving rings; they had seen that even the most 
corrupt and prejudiced of their partisan papers had been 
unable to find anything in his administrations upon which 
to base hostile criticism — in a word, great things had been 
expected of him as an executive and a reformer, and he 
had * 'measured up." 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 83 



CHAPTER Vin. 

'*WELL DONE THOU GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT." 



CLEANSING THE AUGEAN STABLES. HERCULEAN LABORS PERFORMED. 

JUDGE FOLGER BEATEN. DEFECTION FROM REPUBLICAN 

RANKS. PARTISANS BUT HONEST MEN. FEARLESS JOURNALS. 

DESPERATE GAMESTERS. TRICKY TACTICS. JAY GOULD'S 

CANDIDATE. THE JOURNAL OF CIVILIZATION. A HEAVY BUR- 
DEN. A CANDID ENEMY. WHAT CLEVELAND EFFECTED. 



THE CHILD OF REFORM. REVIEWING THE SITUATION. A RAIL- 
ROAD JOB. MISAPPROPRIATING FUNDS. CITY GOVERNMENT A 

BUSINESS. A STREET CLEANING CONTRACT. SCATHING SA- 
TIRE. BLUNT ACCUSATION. CORRUPT COUNCILMEN REBUKED. 

If Cleveland could cleanse the Augean stables of the city 
of Buffalo, all felt that he was fit to undertake the heavier 
contract of ridding the State of its leeches and ringsters 
that fattened, at the expense of the tax payers and laborers, 
upon the body politic. The Democracy, ever ready to re- 
ward the good and rebuke the evil servant , had carefully 
watched the actions of Cleveland in his various official trusts 
and when it had determined, in 1882, to enter the list 
against Republican abuses, he was the man chosen to lead 
its hosts to victory. 

This he did, as he did everything else, thoroughly and well, 
and as the opponent of Judge Folger, the Republican can- 
didate, he carried the State by the largest majority ever 
given to an aspirant for gubernatorial honors. It is but a 
just tribute to the honest minority of the New York Repub- 
licans to state that, tired of corruption of their own party 
and determined neither to aid in its nefarious schemes, nor 
to follow in the lead of its unprincipled, machine-made and 



84 



LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



plunder-inspired chieftains, they deserted almost in a body 
to the camp of the enemy and contributed to the magnifi- 
cence of the Democratic victory. 

The New York Times, ever fearless, able and independent, 
lashed unsparingly the methods of the New York Republi- 




"^ssiLL iHicMmsansa 



THE "MACHINE" POLITICIAN. 



cans, of the administration wing of whom it said they enlisted 
in their work a set of men to whom trickery and deceit 
were familiar weapons, and who felt that they had every- 
thing at stake. They resorted to the meanest tactics to 
which they had become accustomed in their feats of local 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 85 

manasment. After using; their utmost efforts to secure del- 
egates to the convention, who were not the choice of the 
voters, they found it necessary, in order to effect their pur- 
pose, to carry the methods which had been found safe in the 
comparative obscurity of caucus manipuhition into the 
counsels of the State Committee and the convention itself. 
Having staked everything in the hazardous game they were 
playing, they resorted to the desperate devices of blacklegs 
in order to win. 

Speaking of Folger's nomination it said: 

'*Jay Gould has triumphed at Saratoga, let the facts be 
distorted ever so ingeniously." 

Harper s Weekly — the so-called journal of civilization — 
was mournfully forced to admit that the Republican party 
had sadly degenerated and it withheld its powerful support. 

The New York Herald coxxXd not carry the dead weight of 
the candidate of the * 'Federal administration machine," as 
it called Folger. 

TJie iVew York Tribune and other Republican papers, 
ably edited and carrying great weight and influence found 
the infamies of the Republican methods too onerous a bur- 
den to carry, and they either loudly denounced, or by their 
moody silence condemned their party candidate. A Repub- 
lican journal, The Buffalo Express^ had the candor and 
honesty to say of the Democratic nominee : 

"The most promising and prominent of the possible can- 
didates for Governor of New York, on the Democratic side, 
is a man who, this time last year, had hardly been thought 
of as a candidate for Mayor of Buffalo. It was with the 
utmost difficulty that he could be persuaded to accept that 
nomination. He didn't want the office. Only at a great 
sacrifice of professional income and personal comfort could 



86 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

he discharge its duties. But, after much importunity, with 
extreme genuine reluctance, he at length yielded his own 
preference and allowed his friends to nominate him. He 
was elected by a majority of 3,530 — the largest majority 
ever given to any candidate for that office — though running 
on the Democratic ticket, and in a city which at the same 
time gave a majority of 1,624 for the Republican State 
ticket. And his administration of the office has fully justi- 
fied the partiality of the friends who insisted on nominat- 
ing him, and vindicated the good judgment of the people 
who so powerfully insisted on electing him. It is not too 
much to say that in the first half of his first year he has al- 
most revolutionized our municipal government. With no 
more power than Ins predecessors had ^ he has iyiaiigurated 
reforms heretofore only hoped for, and corrected abuses 
which had become almost venerable* Accounts against the 
city are now thoroughly audited, since he pointed out what 
is required of an officer whose duty it is to audit. The 
wholesome rule of competition has been adopted for import- 
ant work hitherto given out in the form of political patron- 
age. So far as one man can, he sees to it that the city gets 
the full value of its money. He knows his power and is 
not afraid to use it. He has conquered the most corrupt 
combination ever formed in the Council, ctud rebuked the 
conspirators in terms that brought the blush of shame to the 
cheekiest of Alderm,en. His veto messages have become 
municipal classics. Knowing his duty, he has faithfully 
performed it, with what benefit to the public can hardly be 
over-estimated. 

And with what personal gain ? Nothing but honor — but 
that to a surprising degree. The universal chorus of 
praise from his fellow-citizens has sounded all over the 



G ROVER CLEVELAND. 87 

State, and suddenly the name of Grover Cleveland is heard 
everywhere as the coming Democratic candidate for Gov- 
ernor of New York, because he is the most independent 
man that ever served as Mayor of Buffalo. And not one 
Jot or tittle of this extraordinary popularity is due to self- 
seeking. ' Probably no one was more surprised than Mr. 
Cleveland when what is called the *boom' in his behalf 
first struck him. He could hardly believe it serious, but ere 
this he must have learned that his friends are terribly in 
earnest." 

It was a sorry day for the ringsters and corruptionists 
when the goddess of reform placed the child of her adop- 
tion in the mayoralty of Buffalo, especially since it led to 
higher and nobler, but no more honestly administered gifts. 
But before we bid a final adieu to his connection with this 
municipality as its chief officer, let us look at some of his 
measures tending to abolish ring abuses. In the expres- 
sion of his utter contempt for jobs of all kinds, we find the 
healthy sarcasm of the man giving way to an honest bluntness 
of expression that must have made the scoundrels cringe 
with shame and fear. 

On one occasion the Common Council had voted to seize, 
as for public streets, certain lands in the city, the intention 
being: that these lands should be turned over to the use of 
certain railroads. The resolution was vetoed by Mayor 
Cleveland. *'The right vested in the city to take these 
lands," he said, * 'should not be made the pretext for divest- 
ing private right for other than city purposes. If conpen- 
sation is to be made to any parties for their interest in the 
lands taken, it will have to be paid, together with all the 
cost of the proceedings, by the city. I do not see why the 



88 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

city should be put to this expense, without receiving any 
corresponding benefits." 

On another occasion the Common Council had voted to give 
$500 to the Firemen's Benevolent Association, and also to 
give $500 to defray the expenses of a proper observance of 
Decoration Day. Both of these appropriations were vetoed 
by Mayor Cleveland; the first on the ground that it was 
contrary to the Constitution of the State, and the second 
not only for that reason, but also because it violated the 
charter of the city, which makes it a misdemeanor to appro- 
priate money raised for one purpose to any other purpose. 
'*I think," he said, *'the money raised for the celebration 
of the Fourth of July cannot be devoted to the observance 
of Decoration Day. I deem the object of this appropria- 
ation," he continued, *'a most worthy one. The efforts of 
our veteran soldiers to keep alive the memory of their fallen 
comrades certainly deserve the aid and encouragement of 
their fellow-citizens. We should all, I think, feel it a duty 
and a privilege to contribute to the funds necessary to carry 
out such a purpose. But the money so contributed should 
be a free gift of the citizens and tax-payers, and should not 
be exacted from them by taxation. This is so because the 
purpose for which this money is asked does not involve their 
protection or interests as members of the community ; and 
it may or may not be approved by them. The people are 
forced to pay taxes into the city treasury, only upon the 
theory that such money should be expended for public 
purposes in which they all have a direct and practical 
interest. The logic of this position leads directly to the 
conclusion that if the people are forced to pay their money 
into the public funds, and it is expended by their servants 
and agents for purposes in which the people as tax-payers 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 89 

have no interest, the exaction of such taxes from them is op- 
presive and unjust. I cannot rid myself of the idea that 
this city government, in its relations to the taxpayers, is a 
business establishment, and it is put in our hands to be 
conducted on business principles. This theory does not ad- 
mit of our donating the public funds in the manner con- 
templated by the action of your honorable body." 

On another occasion the Common Council had passed a 
resolution award! no; a contract for cleaninjy the streets for 
five years to a party who had bid for it $422,500. This 
resolution Mayor Cleveland vetoed in language worthy of 
being long remembered. " The bid thus accepted," he said, 
*'is more than $100,000 higher than that of another per- 
fectly responsible party for the same work; and a worse 
and more suspicious feature in this transaction is that the 
bid now accepted is $50,000 more than that made by the 
bidder himself within a very few weeks, openly and pub- 
licly, to your honorable body for performing precisely the 
same service. This latter circumstance is, to my mind, the 
manifestation, on the part of the contractor, of a reliance 
upon the forbearance and generosity of your honorable 
body, which would be more creditable if it were less ex- 
pensive to the tax-payers. I am not aware that any excuse 
is offered for the acceptance of this proposal, thus increased, 
except the very flimsy one that the lower bidders could not 
afford to do the work for the sums they named. This ex- 
treme tenderness and care for those who desire to contract 
with the city, and this touching and paternal solicitude lest 
they should be improvidently led into a bad bargain, is, I 
am sure, an exception to general business rules, and seems 
to have no place in this selfish and sordid world, except as 
found in the administration of municipal affairs." 



90 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

*'This is a time," continued the Mayor in the same mes- 
sage, '*for plain speech, and my objection to the action 
now under consideration shall be plainly stated. I with- 
hold my assent for the same because I regard it as the 
culmination of a most barefaced, impudent, and shameless 
scheme to betray the interests of the. peopU, and to worse 
than squander the public money. I will not be misunder- 
stood in this matter. There are those whose votes were 
given to this resolution whom I cannot and will not suspect 
of a wilful neglect of the interests they are sworn to pro- 
tect ; but it has been fully demonstrated that there are in- 
fluences both in and about your honorable body which it 
behooves every honest man to watch and avoid with the 
greatest care. When cool judgment rules the hour the 
public will, I hope and believe, have no reason to complain 
of the action of your honorable body, but clumsy appeals 
to prejudice or passion, and insinuations, with a kind of 
low, cheap cunning, as to the motives and purposes of 
others, and the mock heroism of brazen effrontery which 
openly declares that a wholesome public sentiment is to be 
set at naught, sometimes deceive and lead honest men to aid 
in the consummation of schemes which, if exposed, they 
would look upon with abhorrence. We are fast gaining 
positions in the grade of public stewardship. There is no 
middle ground. Those who are not for the people, either in 
or out of your honorable body, are against them, and should 
be treated accordingly.'^ 

We wish the utterances which we have now quoted might 
be read and pondered by every citizen of the Union. No 
matter what political faith a man may have been educated 
in, no matter by what party name he may now prefer to be 
called, no one can consider such principles and sentiments 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 91 

as these declared by Mr. Cleveland, without feeling that 
such a public officer is worthy of the confidence and sup- 
port of the whole people, and that the interests of the 
United States will be entirely safe in his hands. 

Whether as much could be truly said of his opponent we 
leave to the judgment of the people, which is never far 
wrong in its estimates of men and measures. This much, 
however, may be safely asserted, that no public man, in 
the last quarter of a century, has displayed greater admin- 
istrative capacity, greater republican simplicity, or sounder 
common sense than has characterized Mr. Cleveland's con- 
duct of affairs. His State papers are ideal Democratic 
documents, and in his private as well as public life we find 
an utter absence of all attempts at political clap-trap and 
meretricious show. 



92 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER IX. 

A GLORIOUS VICTORY. 



CLEVELAND'S LETTER OP ACCEPTANCE. HIS REGARD FOR THE LA- 
BORING CLASSES. FALSE ACCUSATIONS REFUTED. MALICIOUS 

SLANDERS. A MISUNDERSTOOD ACTION. PRINCIPLES AP- 
PROVED. MANLY PROMISES. VIEWS ON PRIMARY ELECTIONS. 

QUESTIONABLE PRACTICES CONDEMNED. OFFICIAL INTER- 
FERENCE REBUKED. MERIT THE TEST FOR POSITION. SENSI- 
BLE SUGGESTIONS. NO ASSESSMENTS NOR CONTRIBUTIONS. 

FUNCTIONS OF THE LEGISLATURE. RESTRICTION OF CORPORA- 
TIONS. GOOD FAITH COUNSELED. THE LABORING CLASSES. 

CONFIDENCE IN THE PEOPLE. THE EVILS OF BRIBERY. 



THE SIMPLICITY OF DUTY. CAREFUL EXPENDITURE OF PUBLIC 

MONEYS. WHO AIDED CLEVELAND. THEIR FAITH AND THEIR 

WORKS. 

Mr. Cleveland's letter of acceptance of the nomination 
for Governor is an interesting document, and is herewith 
submitted, especially as it gives his views in relation to the 
laboring classes, and their rights and privileges. He has, 
by malicious enemies, been falsely accused of a leaning 
toward monopolies, and an enmity to labor. That any 
reasonable person could read the record of his life and be- 
lieve these slanders is past belief, but even the unreasonable 
can be easily convinced of the mendacity of his traducers. 

Of course, it has been alleged that the veto of the Five 
Cent Fare Bill displayed the animus of Grover Cleveland 
in his dealing with the people, but as we shall show farther 
on, he could not have acted honestly and done otherwise, 
and we shall also show that his vetoinof of this bill in no 
way affected the fares paid by laborers, or even citizens of 
moderate means. But to the letter of acceptance, which is 
as follows : 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 93 

*' Buffalo, October 7, 1882. 
Hon. Thomas C. E. Ecclesine^ Chairman, etc: 

Dear Sir: — I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your 
letter informing me of my nomination for Governor by the 
Democratic State Convention, lately held at the city of 
Syracuse. 

I accept the nomination thus tendered to me and trust 
that, while I am gratefully sensible of the honor conferred, 
I am also properly impressed with the responsibilities which 
it invites. 

The platform of principles adopted by the convention 
meets with my hearty approval. The doctrines therein 
enunciated are so distinctly and explicitly stated that their 
amplification seems scarcely necessary. If elected to the 
office for which I have been nominated, I shall endeavor to 
impress them upon ni}^ administration and make them the 
policy of the State. 

Our citizens for the most part attach themselves to one or 
the other of the great political parties ; and under ordinary 
circumstances they support the nominees of the party to 
which they profess fealty. It is quite apparent that, under 
such circumstances, the primary election or caucus should 
be surrounded by such safeguards as will secure absolutely 
free and uncontrolled action. Here the people themselves 
are supposed to speak ; here they put their own hands to 
the machinery of government; and in this place should be 
found the manifestations of the popular will. When by 
fraud, intimidation or any other questionable practice the 
voice of the people is here smothered, a direct blow is aimed 
at a most precious right, and one which the law should be 
swift to protect. If the primary election is uncontaminated 
and fairly conducted, those there chosen to represent the 



94 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

people will go forth with the impress of the people's will 
upon them, and the benefits and purposes of a truly repre- 
sentative government will be attained. 

Public oflScers are the servants and agents of the people, 
to execute laws which the people have made and within the 
limits of a constitution which they have established. Hence 
the interference of officials of any degree, and whether 
State or federal, for the purpose of thwarting or controlling 
the popular wish, should not be tolerated. 

Subordinates in public places should be selected and re- 
tained for their efficiency, and not because they may be 
used to accomplish partisan ends. The people have a right 
to demand, here as in cases of private employment, that 
their money be paid to those who will render the best ser- 
vice in return, and that the appointment to and tenure of 
such places should depend upon ability and merit. If the 
clerks and assistants in public departments were paid the 
same compensation and required to do the same amount of 
work as those employed in prudently conducted private 
establishments, the anxiety to hold these public places would 
be much diminished, and, it seems to me, the cause of civil 
service reform materially aided. 

The system of levying assessments for partisan purposes 
on those holding office or place cannot be too strongly con- 
demned. Through the thin disguise of voluntary contribu- 
tions, this is seen to be naked extortion, reducing the com- 
pensation which should be honestly earned and swelling a 
fund used to debauch the people and defeat the popular will. 

I am unalterably opposed to the interference by the Legis- 
lature with the government of municipalities. I believe in 
the intelligence of the people when left to an honest free- 
dom in their choice, and that when the citizens of any section 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 95 

of the State have determined upon the details of a local gov- 
ernment, they should be left in the undisturbed enjoyment 
of the same. The doctrine of home rule, as I understand 
it, lies at the foundation of republican institutions, and can- 
not be too strongly insisted upon. 

Corporations are created by the law for certain defined 
purposes, and are restricted in their operations by specific 
limitations. Acting within their legitimate sphere, they 
should be protected; but when, by combination or by the 
exercise of unwarranted power, they oppress the people, the 
same authority which created, should restrain them and pro- 
tect the rights of the citizen. The law lately passed for 
the purpose of adjusting the relations between the people 
and corporations should be executed in good faith, with an 
honest design to effectuate its objects with a due regard for 
the interests involved. 

The laboring classes constitute the main part of our 
population. They should be protected in their efforts 
peaceably to assert their rights when endangered by aggre- 
gated capital, and all statutes on this subject should recog- 
nize the care of the State for honest toil and be framed with 
a view of improving the condition of the workingman. 

We have so lately had a demonstration of the value of 
our citizen soldiery in time of peril, that it seems to me no 
argument is necessary to prove that it should be maintained 
in a state of efiiciency, so that its usefulness shall not be 
impaired. 

Certain amendments to the constitution of our State, in- 
volving the management of our canals, are to be passed 
upon at the coming election. This subject effects diverse 
interest and of course gives rise to opposite opinions. It is 
in the hands of the sovereign people for final settlement; 



96 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

and as the question is thus removed from State legislation, 
any statement of my opinion in regard to it, at this time, 
would, I think, be out of place. I am confident that the 
people will intelligently examine the merits of the subject 
and determine where the preponderance of interest lies. 

The expenditure of money to influence the action of the 
people at the polls, or to secure legislation, is calculated to 
excite the gravest concern. When this pernicious agency is 
successfully employed, a representative form of government 
becomes a sham ; and laws passed under its baleful influ- 
ence cease to protect, but are made the means by which the 
rights of the people are sacrificed, and the public treasury 
despoiled. It is useless and foolish to shut our eyes to the 
fact that this evil exists among us; and the party which 
leads in an honest effort to return to better and purer 
methods will receive the confidence of our citizens and se- 
cure their support. It is willful blindness not to see that 
the people care but little for party obligations, when they 
are invoked to countenance and sustain fraudulent and cor- 
rupt practices. And it is well for our country and for the 
purification of politics that the people, at times fully roused 
to danger, remind their leaders that party methods should 
be something more than a means used to answer the pur- 
poses of those who profit by political occupation. 

The importance of wise statesmanship in the management 
of public affairs can not, I think, be overestimated. I am 
convinced, however, that the perplexities and the mysteries 
often surrounding the administration of State concerns grow 
in a great measure out of an attempt to serve partisan ends 
rather than the welfare of the citizen. 

We may, I think, reduce to quite simple elements the 
duty which public servants owe, by constantly bearing 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 97 

in mind that they are put in place to protect the rights, of 
the people, to answer their needs as they arise, and to ex- 
pend for their benefit the money drawn from them by tax- 
ation. 

I am profoundly conscious that the management of the 
diverse interests of a great State is not an easy matter, but 
I believe, if undertaken in the proper spirit, all its real dif- 
ficulties will yield to watchfulness and care. 

Yours Respectfully, 

Grover Cleveland." 

Words such as these were no idle sounds in the mouth of 
such a man as Buffalo's Mayor, and the conviction of this 
truth had already forced itself into the minds of the citizens 
of New York. The ablest ministers, such as Beecher and 
Cuyler, advocated his claims ; the ablest papers, as Havper's 
Weekly ^i\i^ New York TimeSy Herald^ and numerous others, 
either spoke out openly in admiration of him, or said 
nothing derogatory to him, and those of every shade of 
political opinion, who desired an honest administration, gave 
him their ballots, and the Empire State witnessed another 
tidal wave. 

Whether a record for strict, unswerving honesty is of 
any worth, let Cleveland's one hundred and ninety-two 
thousand majority over Judge Folger, backed by the men, 
money and machine of the Republican administration, tes- 
tify. There is a Turkish proverb which says that "silver 
is valuable, gold is precious, but a good name is invaluable." 
With Anglo-Saxon, or rather Anglo-Norman brevity, we 
shorten this proverb into an epigram and say, *' Credit 
beats money," and truly the credit, or reputation, of Grover 
Cleveland has stood him in better stead than all the money 
wrung from unwilling clerks, and contributed by too willing 
thieves to benefit his opponent, could have done. 



98 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTEE X. 

THE CLEVELAND PEDIGREE, 



THE governor's GREAT-GRANDFATHER. ANGLO-SAXON VIRTUES. 

THE NORWICH HATTER. HIS TALENT AND VERSATILITY. AN 

ORIGINAL ABOLITIONIST. IN THE CONNECTICUT LEGISLATURE. 

POLITICS AND RELIGION. DEATH AT NEW HAVEN. 

"FATHER CLEVELAND," THE MISSIONARY. A PROLIFIC RACE. 

A BISHOP IN THE FAMILY. A SILVERSMITH AND A DEACON. 

GROVER CLEVELAND'S FATHER. LIKE, YET UNLIKE. A STU- 
DENT AT YALE. A TEACHER AT BALTIMORE. ORDAINED A 

MINISTER. BALTIMORE BELLES. A WELL-KNOWN CITIZEN. 

PREACHING IN THE SOUTH. REMOVAL TO NEW JERSEY. 

GROVER'S BROTHERS AND SISTERS. A TRAGICAL DEATH. AN 

IDEAL STRAIN. A BORN DEMOCRAT. STRONG COMMON SENSE. 

THE KEY-NOTE OF REFORM. STRIKING A CLUE. A FEW 

TIMELY QUESTIONS. 

While we firmly believe that the most interesting matter 
with which we could fill these pages would be the official 
papers of Mr. Cleveland, yet we cannot forbear adding to 
the slight sketch of the man himself which we gave in the 
opening chapter, and it may not be uninteresting to trace 
back for a few generations the line from which the reform 
Governor sprang. 

Aaron Cleveland, the great-grandfather of Stephen Gro- 
ver Cleveland, was born February 9, 1774, at East Haddam, 
on the Connecticut river, a short distance below Middle- 
town, Connecticut. His parents were English and they 
have perpetuated, in a long line of descendants, the Anglo- 
Saxon virtues that are inherent in the race. While but a 
youth, Aaron Cleveland removed to Norwich, in his native 
State, and here he remained for the greater part of a long 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 99 

and active life. By trade he was a hatter and accounted 
the best one in his section of the country. 

Not as a hatter only did he win the respect and admira- 
tion of his fellow-citizens, for his mind was exceedingly 
versatile and he was widely known as a speaker and writer, 
especially on political subjects. Strange to say, he was one 
of the originators of the very party whose vices and corrup- 
tion his great-grandson has been so successful in opposing. 
Aaron Cleveland was a strong anti-slavery man and pre- 
sented, in the Connecticut Legislature, the first bill for its 
abolition. 

Toward the close of his life religion seems to have taken a 
stronger hold of him than politics, and we find him a citizen 
of Vermont and filling a Congregational pulpit, as minister. 
He did not forsake his principles, however, and was to the 
day of his death regarded as a strong Abolitionist. At the 
time of his death, which occurred in 1815, he had returned 
to his native State and was a resident of New Haven. 

Charles, the oldest son of Aaron Cleveland — born at Nor- 
wich in 1772 — was well known and universally loved in Bos- 
ton, where as a city missionary he was called by everyone 
**Father Cleveland." The thirteenth child, (for the early 
race in New England was a prolific one, ) of Aaron Cleveland 
was a daughter, who married the celebrated Dr. Samuel H. 
Coxe. Arthur Cleveland Coxe, the Episcopal Bishop of 
New York, is the son of this couple. 

The second son of Aaron Cleveland was named William. 
He was a well-known silversmith and lived at Beacon Hill, 
a suburb of Norwich. For twenty-five years he was a dea- 
con of the Congregational church at Norwich. He was 
Grover Cleveland's grandfather, and died at Black Rock, 



100 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

near Buffalo, in the year 1837. His second son, Kichard 
Falling Cleveland, was the Governor's father. 

He was born in Norwich, June 19, 1804. In physical 
aspect he did not greatly resemble his distinguished son, 
being pale and thin, but in honesty, brains and noble qual- 
ities father and son were parallels. Richard Cleveland en- 
tered Yale College in 1820 and graduated with honor in 
1824, his classmates being sixty-seven in number; nearly all 
of whom have long since passed from this stage of exis- 
tence. 

Almost immediately after leaving college he went to 
Baltimore to teach school, and this profession he followed 
for four years, being ordained a minister of the Presbyte- 
rian church in 1828. His first station was at Windham, 
near his birth place, Norwich, and here he remained for a 
year. \Yhether he had found at Baltimore the great amount 
of female loveliness that has ever been claimed by the 
Monumental city we can only judge by his return to it, in 
1829, to wed one of its fairest daughters. 

His wife was the daughter of AbnerNeal, a widely known 
and estimable citizen of Baltimore, and she was a woman 
of unusual loveliness. After preaching for some time in 
the South, Mr. Cleveland removed to New Jersey and set- 
tled at Caldwell, from which place he again removed, in 
1841, to Fayetteville. In 1847 he was made Secretary of 
the Home Missionary Society, and in 1853 he was installed 
as pastor of the Presbyterian church at Holland Patent, 
where he died October 1, 1853. 

His widow resided at Holland Patent from this time until 
her death, which occurred July 19, 1882; she having out- 
lived her husband nearly thirty years. Of this union there 
were nine children: Anna, who became Mrs. Dr. Hastings 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 101 

and accompanied her husband to Ceylon where he was sent 
as a missionary. William N. the second child was born in 
1832, was for a time teacher in the Blind asylum, in New 
York City, but is now a Presbyterian minister at Forestport, 
New York. Mary, the next child, was born in 1833, and is 
now Mrs. W. E. Hoyt. Kichard Cecil was born 1835; 
Stephen Grover, 1837 ; Margaret — now Mrs. N. B. Bacon — 
born 1838; Lewis Frederick, 1841 ; Susan — Mrs. L. Yeo- 
mans — 1843; Rose Cleveland, unmarried, 184G. 

All of these children are still alive, save two of the sons 
lost at sea, on a voyage to the West Indies. This is the 
record of the house of Cleveland so far as it would prove 
of interest to the reader. Here we see the Puritan blood 
of New England mixing, in the person of Stephen Grover 
Cleveland, with that of the Maryland cavaliers and pro- 
ducing an ideal strain; the fierce and hardy virtues of the 
one tempered with the mildness and grace of the other. 

This commingling is very noticeable in New York's re- 
form Governor, who personally is cordial, affable and ac- 
commodating, but in matters pertaining to the public weal 
he is inflexible in his determination to protect the interests 
of the people. A born Democrat, he has no sympathy with 
monopolies, but is ever a vigilant defender of the rights of 
the masses. In person he is large and stout, his face is 
handsome and his manner genial and hearty. 

His conversation, which sparkles with humor, involunta- 
rily impresses everyone with its strong common sense — the 
best of all sense. There is no straining for effect, no en- 
deavor to impress the listener with a sense of the superiority 
of the speaker, no foreign, phrases dragged in by the ears 
to show off fashionable attainments ; the sentences are crisp 
and short, the ideas epigrammatically expressed, and the 



102 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

words, as nearly as possible, of one syllable. No public 
man of the day approaches him in the clearness, accuracy 
and simplicity with which he expresses himself orally, or in 
writing. 

The key-note of his political ideas is reform and unlike 
the majority of his cotemporaries, he seems to have solved 
the problem of how to deal with governmental affairs. 
''The affairs of the city," he says, "should be conducted, 
as far as possible, upon the same principles as a good busi- 
ness man manages his private concerns." Here is the 
essence of political executive management. This is com- 
mon sense applied to State and municipal affairs. It is 
Charles Reade's method of *' putting yourself in the place" 
of a person applied to a city. Would you yourself pay 
$1,200,000 for a private sewer, running only a few blocks, 
when you could get it done for $800,000? No ! Then don't 
let the city do it ! 

This is a simple explanation of Grover Cleveland's meth- 
ods of reasoning in regard to governmental affairs. Would 
such a man as this allow the expenditure of over $200,000,- 
000 for a paper navy, the actual vessels of which wouldn't 
sell for $2,000,000? No man can believe it. Would such 
a man as this allow a mail contractor $56,000 a year for 
carrying, on an average, three letters a week twenty-one 
miles? The man who believes that he would, after his 
record at Buffalo and at Albany, is a fit inmate for an 
asylum for idiots and imbeciles. 



GKOVER CLEVELAND. 103 



CHAPTEK XI. 

THE BOY THAT WAS NOT AFRAID. 



A POLITICAL CONCLAVE. DISCUSSING THE FARE BILL. A LITTLE 

ANECDOTE. AN OLD CURMUDGEON. THE BOY'S BATHING- 
PLACE. OLD CLOSE'S ORCHARD. AD SEWALL'S SHADOW SOUP 

DOG. HIS DAILY DIET. A SUNDAY DELICACY. POPULAR, 

BUT NOT RIGHT. A STERN CHASE. THE YOUNG PROTECTOR. 

A SKINFLINT'S ANGER. NOT AT ALL AFRAID. WHAT'S IN 

A NAME. A CONCEALED AUDITOR. A GENEROUS INVITATION. 

YOUNG CLEVELAND'S AMAZEMENT. GIVE THE DEVIL HIS 

DUE. PARALLEL PRINCIPLES. THE BILL EXPLAINED. HIS 

BEST ENDEAVOR. A BREACH OF FAITH. LEGAL AND MORAL 

OBLIGATIONS. JUST AND FAIR DEALING. THE LAW'S LIMITS. 

AN HONEST MAN'S DUTY, 

*'Straws show which way the wind blows" says an ancient 
and homely adage, and as illustration of this saying we will 
here relate an incident in the life of Grover Cleveland, that 
occurred while he was a mere youth, and which was called 
up during a conversation in the Hoffman House bar-room in 
New York. A knot of city politicians sat drinking their 
punch and discussing the Fare Bill which had just been 
passed. "Will Cleveland let this opportunity for popu- 
larity escape?" asked one. *'I don't know about that" 
said another, "but I'll just tell you a little story I once 
heard of him at his old home, in Fayetteville. 

"All right," said the crowd, "let us have it," and he went 
on to relate the following: 

"In the neighborhood of Fayetteville there lived an old 
curmudgeon of a farmer whom we shall call Mr. Close, 
though that word rather represents his disposition than his 



104 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

name. He was penurious to excess and was extremely un- 
popular, not only with the boys — for it is natural for gen- 
erous childhood to despise meanness in any shape — but also 
with their elders. Mr. Close's farm lay upon a small stream, 
which was a favorite bathing-place with the youngsters, and 
in every way he sought to annoy the boys who, it must be 
confessed, often made way with his apples and other fruits. 

Grover w\as always ready for a swim with his comrades, 
but could never be persuaded to aid in robbing the orchard 
of their common enemy. He had often been laughed at 
for his scruples, and one day something like the following 
colloquy ensued as the boys were passing down a hedged 
lane near Close's orchard. 

*'Well, old goody-goody," said Ad Sewall, aboy of about 
Grover's age, *'what do you say to trying some of old 
Close's apples — they must be good and ripe by this time." 

*'Why Ad," said Grover, ''I'll say to-day what I've al- 
ways said, that I won't steal old Close's apples, nor any- 
body else's for that matter." 

*'Ah ha," said Ad jokingly, *'afraid of Close's dog, are 
you? Why that animal hasn't got strength enough to 
bark. He's too thin even to make a shadow. Old Close 
feeds him on boiled brick bats and wind puddfng, except on 
Sundays when he opens up his heart and treats him to 
shadow-soup." 

This called up quite a laugh at Grover, who good natur- 
edly joined in it, saying, when the crowd was again quiet, 
*'You know very well that I'm not afraid of Mr. Close's 
dog, not half so much as you are, Ad, although you seem to 
understand his feed and disposition so well." 

^'That's all right Grover," said Ad, "but honest Injin, 
old Close is so stingy and mean that everybody hates him, 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 105 

and I believe every man in the country would be tickled to 
hear he had been robbed." 

<'Well, boys," said Grover decisively "it may be popu- 
lar, but that don't make it right, and I for one won't have 
anything to do with it." 

After a good deal of good natured chaff between the 
youngsters, during which Ad was appealed to for a descrip- 
tion of the ingredients of shadow soup and wind pudding, 
and Grover was in vain solicited to join in a raid on the 
orchard, all moved on toward town. A day or two later 
Grover had been delayed at some task and did not get off 
with his comrades, but his work over, he hastened out to- 
ward the bathing place, where he expected to find them. 

Hurrying eagerly along, he turned a corner of Close's 
lane and beheld the whole party of youngsters in full re- 
treat before old Close and Ad Sewall's shadow-soup dog. 
Foremost in the retreat came Ad, a very picture of terror, 
and he liew past young Cleveland with the speed of the wind. 

As the last of the boys were passing him Grover had 
seized a stick lying near him, and seeing that the dog, which 
was a strong, fierce animal, was apt to bite some of the boys 
severely, he interposed between pursuer and pursued and 
by dint of a courageous effort succeeded in beating off the 
brute. 

At this time old Close came running up, almost breath- 
less, and shouting "let that dog alone — what do you mean 
by striking my dog?" 

"I mean," said Grover, boldly, " to keep him from bit- 
ing any of these boys, that's what I mean." 

"What if I take that stick and give you a sound thresh- 
ing with it for interfering in my business? " said the farmer 
in a fierce tone. 



106 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

** T ain't afraid of your taking this stick," said the boy, 
*« it's mine, and you won't find it easy or safe to try to 
take it." 

"I won't, won't I?" asked Close half amused at the 
boy's manliness, *' What if I set my dog on you and make 
him bring you down? " 

"I'm no more afraid of your dog than you are, Mr. 
Close. You can't bluff me with your dog," retorted young 
Cleveland. 

" Well, then, if you ain't afraid of me nor my dog, maybe 
you ain't afraid to give me your name," said Close. 

** Not a bit, my name's Stephen Grover Cleveland, and 
I'm not ashamed of it," said the boy. 

" Ah ha ! " said the old farmer, *' you are the boy that 
wasn't afraid of Ad's shadow-soup dog, when he wanted 
you to rob my orchard last Tuesday. I was lying behind 
the hedge and heard every word of that talk, and I thought 
when I saw you licking old Watch, here, that you must be 
the boy that was too honest to steal, and yet too brave to 
be afraid. Whenever you want any apples or anything else 
of mine, you've got a standing invitation to help yourself. 
I may be close, but any boy you think enough of to have 
for a friend, can come along with you," and calling his dog 
the old fellow turned off, leaving the boy in amazement at 
his suddenly developed generosity. 

" This, gentlemen, is the story," said the narrator, "and 
I leave you to judge if such a boy as that could ever do a 
thing he believed to be wrong, just because it might be 
popular. As for me, I believe he'd like to veto it, and 
would do it if he could do so conscientiously, but how a 
lawyer, like he is, can go to ripping and tearing up laws 
and contracts to moj^e popularity for himself, I don't see. 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 107 

I hate a monopoly as bad as he does, but I'm a straight out 
Democrat, and I'm proud to say that I'd give even the devil 
himself justice." 

A loud laugh greeted this rather broad enunciation of 
Democratic doctrine, and the crowd soon after dispersed. 

When it came to the test, the Governor proved to the 
politicians, that the boy who could not rob the orchard of 
an unpopular skinflint, was the type of the man who could 
not, for his own selfish ends, permit the despoiling of an 
unpopular corporation. The principle involved was pre- 
cisely the same, and Mr. Cleveland well-knew how much it 
would add to his popularity to permit the breach of faith 
between the State and the corporation, and yet he had the 
honor and the honesty to turn aside from all personal inter- 
est in the matter, and render a just decision. 

We will let the Governor speak for himself on the sub- 
ject, first stating that the elevated road has not, as most 
railroads have, a dollar of income from freights or anything 
but passenger trafiic, and also that it extends fully ten 
miles, was built at a very heavy cost and under special 
guarantees from the State as to its rights and the rates of 
fare that might be charged by it. Still another considera- 
tion should be stated, viz: that at the time the laboring 
classes, shop girls, clerks, etc., are going to, or returning 
from their work, the corporation had voluntarily agreed to 
fix five cents as its charge for passage. In his veto of the 
bill, the Governor says: 

'*I am convinced that in all cases the share which falls upon 
the Executive regarding the legislation of the State should 
be in no manner evaded, but fairly met by the expression 
of his carefully guarded and unbiased judgment. In his 
conclusion he may err, but if he has fairly and honestly 



108 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

acted, he has performed his duty and given to the people of 
the State his best endeavor. 

<^ *?F v|f Tit TJt TP T^f ^ 

Even if the State has the power to reduce the fare on 
these roads, it has promised not to do so except under cer- 
tain circumstances and after a certain examination. 

I am not satisfied that these circumstances exist, and it is 
conceded that no such examination has been made. 

tt yf^ Tflp v ?if V 9|p 

It seems to me that to arbitrarily reduce these fares, at 
this time and under existing circumstances, involves a 
breach of faith on the part of the State, and a betrayal of 

confidence which the State has invited. 

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

But we have especially in our keeping the honor and good 
faith of a great State, and we should see to it that no sus- 
picion attaches, through any act of ours, to the fair fame 
of the commonwealth. The State should not only be 
strictly just but scrupulously fair, and in its relations to the 

citizen every legal and moral obligation should be recog- 
nized. This can only be done by legislating without vindic- 
tiveness or prejudice, and with a firm determination to deal 
justly and fairly with those from whom we exact obedience. 

I am not unmindful of the fact that this bill oris^inated in 
response to the demand of a large portion of the people of 
New York for cheaper rates of fare between their places of 
employment and their homes, and I realize fully the desira- 
bility of securing to them all the privileges possible, Lut 
the experience of other States teaches that we must keep 
within the limits of law and good faith, lest in the end we 
bring upon the very people whom we seek to benefit and 
protect, a hardship which must surely follow when these 
limits are ignored." 

To have approved the bill would no doubt have added to 
Cleveland's popularity, but as an honest man could he do it? 



GROVER CLEVELAND, 109 



CHAPTER XII. 

A GOOD TIME COMING. 



BETTER RIGHT THAN PRESIDENT. -HONEST CONVICTIONS. SIMPLE 

CEREMONIES. GOVERNOR CLEVELAND'S INAUGURATION. NO 

PARADE NOR OSTENTATION. RADICAL FITSS AND FEATHERS. 

CLEVELAND WALKS TO THE CAPITOL. TAKES THE OATH. ^AND 

GOES AT ONCE TO WORK. NO CARDS NOR CEREMONY. A SIM- 
PLE LIFE. A BY(iONE EVENT RECALLED. TRUE REPUBLICAN 

SIMPLICITY. A GOOD OMEN. CLEVELAND NOT MAGNETIC. 

BLESSED WITH ENEMIES. NO GLOW NOR GLITTER. A PLAIN 

AMERICAN CITIZKN. THEMES OF THANKFULNESS. WHAT 

MAGNETISM AND BRILLIANCY HAVE BROUGHT. BlilBERY, THIEV- 
ING AND CORRUPTION. HONESTY THE EXCEPTION. THE NA- 
TION DISGRACED. SCHOOL BOY QUESTIONS. 

Had Grover Cleveland done aught save veto the Fare 
Bill he would have forfeited the confidence of all fair- 
minded people of every party, and showed himself a politi- 
cal trickster and cringing coward, trading off rights belong- 
ing to and vested by the State, for influence and popularity, 
that he might procure his own advancement. No one knew 
better than he that the approval of that bill would have cre- 
ated the greatest enthusiasm in the minds of the thought- 
less and those who at any cost of State or personal honor 
would strip all hated corporations. But once more the 
Empire State had secured as its Governor a man who would 
rather be right than be President. 

That his veto of the Fare Bill resulted from an honest 
conviction, will be plainly seen by anyone who will read 
his other veto messages both as Mayor and Governor. 
Some of them will be given hereafter. For the present, 
in order to follow those matters in their chronological order, 



110 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

as nearly as may be, we will turn to Cleveland's inaugura- 
tion as Governor. In this ceremony we see a wide dif- 
ference between the methods of this model Democrat and 
the fuss and feathers which characterized the attempt at 
court pageantry by his Republican predecessors. 

The following account of this affair, and of the every 
day life of the reform Governor is contributed by an old 
acquaintance, who, while not seeking faults or follies, would 
have been as blunt and honest as Mr. Cleveland himself in 
their criticism, had any been found: 

'*All the traits of assiduous industry, unostentatious dig- 
nity, thoroughness and simplicity, noted in Grover Cleve- 
land's early career are observable in his present life at Al- 
bany. On the day before his inauguration as Governor, 
he came down from Buffalo quietly with his law partner, 
Mr. Bissell, went to the Executive Mansion and spent the 
night. On the morrow the city was excited with the ap- 
proaching ceremonies. The streets were crowded, but 
there was to be no military parade, no procession. 

*'The Govenor-elect walked from the Executive Mansion 
in company with his friend to the Capitol, which is a mile 
distant, joining the throngs that were going that way. He 
entered the building unrecognized, but quite at his ease, 
sauntered up the Executive Chamber and was there met by 
Governor Cornell. The moment the inaugural ceremony 
was over he passed into the spacious Executive Chamber 

which is set apart for his use, ordered that the doors should 
be opened to admit anybody, and went immediately to 

work. 

"Never was any important public event so completely 

stripped of its fuss and feathers. Never was a more radical 

change effected in the official routine of the Executive De- 



GROVElf CLEVELAND. Ill 

partment. Hitherto there were all sorts of delays and im- 
pediments in the path to the Governor. Cards had to be 
sent in, ushers conducted citizens into the ante-rooms I'nd 
left them to cool their heels on the State's tassellated floor. 
But the moment Grover Cleveland took possession he issued 
an order to admit anybody at once who wished to see him. 
And up to the present time he has been quite able himself 
to prevent this return to republican simplicity from being 
abused. 

*' His habits are indicative of his dislike of ostentation and 
official parade and of his methodical and industrious train- 
ing. He walks from the Executive Mansion every morning 
at 9 o'clock to the Capitol and goes straight to work. At 
1 : 30 he walks back to his lunch, which takes an hour. He 
then returns on foot to work again, and remains until 6, 
when he goes to dinner. He is back at 8 and generally 
stays until 11 or 12. He keeps no horses or extra servants 
and has not been known to ride since he has been in Albany, 
except for an occasional pleasure jaunt. The amount of 
work thus accomplished — as his private secretary, Mr. 
Daneil S. Lamont, testifies — is something enormous." 

How naturally this plain and truly re[)ublican ceremony re- 
calls the inauo^uration of Jefferson — the founder and father of 
Democracy — who rode up to the Capitol, hitched his old 
sorrel steed himself and took the required oath of office. 

Here was no blare of trumpet, no roll of drum, no gaudy 
emblazonment of military parade to dazzle the eyes of the 
citizen and to hide with tinsel splendor and showy trap- 
pings the machinery by which the people were to be des- 
poiled. In their stead was an honest simplicity that re- 
called the early days of the Republic, when patriotic offi- 



112 LITE AND PUBLIC* SERVICES OF 

cials were the rule and not the exception, a simplicity that 

boded well for the citizen and the tax-payer. 

The same authority says: 

"I failed to hear anyone say that Grover Cleveland had 

any magnetism, or that he fascinated a crowd, or that he 
drew people after him with a personal glamour. On the con- 
trary, I formed a very distinct notion that there was a class 
of men that he repelled, and that disliked him as easily, as 
naturally and as sincerely as a theif hates a magistrate or 
a smuggler hates a dead calm. Indeed it was impossible to 
discover either in the man's record or in the reputation that 
had grown up about him, anything dramatic. 

*'The resultant heroism of his life is that common heroism 
of the "common" work-a-day world, which does its duty, 
not for effect but for a principle and a purpose, and which, 
if it does not so easily catch the eye and the ear, is after all 
the enduring force that the people come to look for and 
rely upon when there is great work to be done. I looked 
into his law offices on Main street — this later laboratory where 
were evolved the legal functions that came into the public 
service of his own community. 

*'They were curiously solid and unpretentious, and upstairs 
were the bachelor rooms where for years Grover Cleveland 
had slept and worked. I examined them minutely, for one 
often obtains a glimpse of character by such entourage. 
And they were instantly indicative of the simple tastes, 
methodical habits and studious life of the occupant. 

<'Tvvo or three pictures, evidently selected not for decora- 
tion but because the owner prized the subject and admired 
the treatment, hung on the walls. But there was elsewhere 
not a superfluous article in the room. Elegance had been 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 113 

forgotten in the successful attempt to secure comfort and 
convenience and seclusion. 

"Grover Cleveland, both in his record and in his person, 
impressed me as peculiarly the outcome and result of what 
is best and most enduring in American life. As we have 
already seen, he started like the typical American boy to 
hew his own way. The almost insuperable difficulties of his 
youth, the hardships of poverty, the pangs of hunger, the 
frosts of winter never deterred him. They were in fact, as 
they always are to the true metal, only the blows that com- 
pacted and shaped the man. 

*'We hear a great deal nowadays about men being all 
American. Obviously there are some American things 
which a man had better be without. It is not pleasant to 
contemplate a man whose character reflects the heterogene- 
ous and discordant elements of our complex life. Nor is it 
safe to trust with heavy responsibilities that man whose 
chief element of Americanism is impatience of restraint, 
disrespect for the past and an unswerving desire to be smart 
rather than right. 

*'The best elements of our American life have always come 
up from the hardy, vigorous stratum that was nearest to the 
soil and in some way depended on it. The abiding glory 
of the country has been in its defiant boys with God-fearing 
ancestors; boys who had organized in them, by a race of 
humble but devout pioneers, the patience and industry to 
achieve and the reverence to respect. 

**It is to men of this fibre that the Republic has always 
gone in its emergencies — turning in extremity from its poli- 
ticians, its doctrinaires and its workers of statecraft, back 
to the elemental, vital, honest forces that underlie all its 



114 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

achievements and that are oftenest found in the sturdy, 
modest, indomitable workers who have not sought the poli- 
tical race." 

From this source we learn that Grover Cleveland is not 
brilliant nor mas^netic, and for these thinc^s let us all be 
truly thankful. America has been blessed, or rather cursed 
with too many men of late who were both brilliant and 
magnetic; let us now hope for a return to the simplicity and 
honesty which are far more needed. Magnetism and bril- 
liancy have ruled the country for twenty-three years, and 
what have they done for the people and the country. Let 
us make a short list of the more than doubtful blessings 
they have conferred upon us. 

They have stolen from the people and donated to railway 
corporations millions of acres of lands that belong of right 
to the coming generations of American citizens; they have 
fostered thievery and corruption, until no one expects to find 
in any public station an honest official; they have intro- 
duced into American politics a system of rings and roguery 
that are sapping the foundations of the Republic and drain- 
ing the life blood of her citizens; they have made fraud, 
violence and bribery as common as is our daily breath, and 
above all they have degraded the nation in the eyes of the 
world and rendered her a scoff and a bye-word. 

Their infamous legislation has driven American com- 
merce off of the ocean, destroyed our navy and forced 
American citizens abroad to appeal to other powers for the 
assistance which, under Democratic rule, was always forth- 
coming from the home government. Is this so? Ask any 
school-boy and he can tell you iiow broadly and well the 
free flowing banner of the stripes and stars guarded the 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 115 

rights of the American citizens while the Democracy held 
the reins of government. 

Ask him now if the insults of the contemptible nation- 
ality of Spain, which does not rank even amongst the 
third rate powers of Europe and which trembles like a 
whipped cur at the slightest frown of England, are not 
many and grievous. And what do the brilliant and mag- 
netic statesmen do to remedy these grievances? Why, they 
quietly pocket the insult; leave the murdered American to 
welter m his gore, or the mangled ship to return to port 
and assume the British Hag that her decks may be safe 
from Spanish intrusion and her mariners secure from 
Spanish murder. 

These are some of the results of the Republican brilliancy 
and magnetism, and thank heaven ! the frosts of the com- 
ing November will shrivel and wither these gaudy exotics, 
that are all unsuited to the sober and common sense poli- 
tics of the American Republic. In their stead we shall be- 
hold the pearly bosoms of simplicity and honesty, and 
there will be a rare scattering of the rogues and rascals, 
when the people shall come to their own again. The rogues 
have fallen out amongst themselves, and if the old adage 
holds good, honest men are bound to get their dues. 



116 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER Xni. 



Cleveland's state papers. 



A MAN OF THE PEOPLE. FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. CONVICT LA- 

BOU. DANGER OF COMPETITION. FAITHFUL SERVANTS. 

ABOLISH UNNECESSARY OFFICES. WATCH THE PUBLIC FUNDS. 

ILLEGAL PUNISHMENTS. CARE OVER PRISONERS. ANOTHER 

GOVERNOR. DESPERATION OF CONVICTS. A VETOED GAS BILL. 

NOT SAFE NOR CONVENIENT. FATAL OBJECTIONS. COR- 
PORATE TYRANNY. THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE. THE 

UTICA ICE COMPANY. CUPIDITY AND SELFISHNESS. NO SPE- 
CIAL LEGISLATION. CONTRACTS MUST BE FULFILLED. DAN- 
GER AND UNCERTAINTY. BUFFALO CITY CHARTER. TRUE 

POLITICAL WISDOM. GOOD SENSE AND FAIR PLAY. A THIEVING 

SCHEME REBUKED. A VIGILANT OFFICER. 

A few pages back we promised the reader to give extracts 
from the State papers of Grover Cleveland, which would show 
the utter falsity of the claims of his opponents that he is the 
friend and ally of corporate monopolies. These extracts 
we shall now give and we feel convinced that it will require 
no great degree of study to see that the sympathies of this 
man of the people are now, as they ever have been, with the 
people. 

It is our intention to begin with the first annual message 
of the Governor and to follow with a few brief extracts from 
his vetoes and other papers. In his first message, after a 
careful review of all matters of interest connected with the 
State government and suggestions for cutting off unnecessary 
oflScers, he comes to the matter of prisoners, and here we find 
an allusion to labor that shows how he regards the labor- 
ing man, and the solicitude he evinces to keep from him 
dangerous competition : 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 117 

"If these penal institutions are self-sustaining, without 
injury or embarrassment to honest labor, it is a matter for 
congratulation ; but it is, at least, very questionable whether 
the State should go further and seek to realize a profit from 
its convict labor. In my judgment it should not, especially 
if the danger of competition between convicts and those 
who honestly toil, is hereby increased." 

The message concludes with the following summing up : 

*<Let us enter upon the discharge of our duties, fully 
appreciating our relations to the people, and determined to 
serve them faithfully and well. This involves a jealous 
watch of the public funds, and a refusal to sanction their 
appropriation except for public needs. To this end all un- 
necessary offices should be abolished and all employment 
of doubtful benefit discontinued. If to this we add the 
enactment of such wise and well considered laws as will 
meet the varied wants of our fellow-citizens and increase 
their prosperity, we shall merit and receive the approval 
of those whose representatives we are, and with the con- 
sciousness of duty well performed, shall leave our impress 
for good on the legislation of the State." 

Our next extract is from a letter to Isaac V. Baker, 
Superintendent of State Prisons, and shows the broad and 
catholic kindness and charity of Mr. Cleveland. The letter 
relates to the abuses of keepers, etc., in inflicting illegal 
punishment upon those confined in the prisons of New 
York: 

''Hon. Isaac V. Bake7\ Jr., Superintendent of State 

Prisons : 
Dear Sir: — I deem it proper to call your attention to 
the provisions of section 108, of chapter 460, of the laws of 



118 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

1847, which prohibits the infliction of blows upon any con- 
vict in the State prisons, by the keepers thereof, except in 
self-defense or to suppress a revolt or insurrection; and 
also to chapter 8(39 of the laws of 18G9, abolishing the pun- 
ishments commonly known as the shower-bath, crucifix or 
yoke, and buck. I suppose these latter forms of punish- 
ment were devised to take the place of the blows prohib- 
ited bv the law of 1847. 

******* 

'* I especially desire to avoid any injurious interference 
with the maintenance by the prison authorities of eflScient 
discipline ; but I insist that, in the treatment of prisoners 
convicted of crime, the existing statutes of the State on 
that subject should be observed." 

How different this solicitude for these poor wretches 
from that evinced by the Governor of a State we might 
name, in whose penitentiary, under his very eyes, his fellow- 
creatures, guilty of no greater crimes than himself — for 
he is a self-confessed murderer — have been so tortured and 
driven to desperation that they have been made mad or 
forced to commit suicide. This is no fancy picture, as can 
be vouched for by the Judge of a Federal Court, who sends 
all of his prisoners to the penitentiary of a neighboring 
State to preserve them from this horrible and fiendish treat- 
ment. 

A bill authorizing gas companies to use electricity for 
the purpose of heating and lighting towns and private prop- 
erty was vetoed for various reasons, of which we here give 
a few: 

** I am convinced that the safety and convenience of the 
people demand that the conductors and fixtures of the cor- 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 119 

porations mentioned in this bill should not be permitted 
upon or over the public streets. 

"Another fatal objection to this bill is found in the pro- 
vision allowing the corporations therein named to enter 
upon private property and erect and maintain their struc- 
tures thereon, without the consent of the owner. It seems 
to me that this is taking private property, or an ease- 
ment therein, with very little pretext that it is for a pub- 
lic use. 

"If a private corporation can, under authority of law, 
construct its appliances and structures upon the lands of the 
citizen without his consent, not only for the purpose of 
furnishing light, but in an experimental attempt to trans- 
mit heat and power, the rights of the people may well be 
regarded as in danger from an undue license to corporate 
ao^o^randizement." 

Is this the sort of legislation that marks the friend of 
monopolies ? Is it not rather that of a man jealous of the 
rights of the people and bound to maintain them ? 

The next extract from a veto of a bill to extend the time 
of payment for capital stock of the Utica Ice Company is 
another rebuke to corporate cupidity and selfishness : 

" Our laws in relation to the formation of corporations 
are extremely liberal, and those who avail themselves of 
their provisions should be held to a strict compliance with 
their requirements. There is manifestly no propriety in 
the passage of a special act to relieve a private corporation 
and its stockholders, as proposed in this bill. If the capi- 
tal already paid in is sufficient for its purpose, it may, I 
think, reduce its stock under section 15 of the act. In any 
event, the failure to pay in the stock within the time lim- 



120 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

ited, only subjects the company to be proceeded against and 
dissolved, after a judgment obtained against it, and renders 
the stockholders, until such payment, liable for all the 
debts of the corporation. 

*'This company, and its stockholders, have assumed for 
their own benefit certain relations to the State, to the pub- 
lic and to their creditors, and these relations should not be 
disturbed. 

*'If corporations are to be relieved from their defaults for 
the asking, their liability to the people with whom they 
deal will soon become dangerously uncertain and indefi- 
nite." 

In relation to a bill to amend the Buffalo city charter — 
really a device to obtain control of the Fire Department 
for political purposes — he says : 

"But waiving further criticism of details, my attention 
is directed to section twenty of the bill, which, to the. 
promoters of this measure, is undoubtedly its most impor- 
tant feature. It provides that immediately upon the ap- 
pointment and qualification of the chief, the terms of the 
present commissioners shall cease and determine, and that 
the terms of office of all the other oflScers, firemen and em- 
ployes, shall also cease and determine ten days thereafter. 
Great care is exercised to provide that the chiefs and all 
the firemen and employes appointed under the new scheme 
shall be discharged only for cause, and after due hearing 
and an opportunity for defense; but to those now in the 
service, numbering about two hundred drilled and experi- 
enced men, no such privileges are accorded. 

"The purpose of the bill is too apparent to be mistaken. 
A tried, economical and efficient administration of an im- 



G ROVER CLEVELAND. 121 

portant department in a large city is to be destroyed upon 
partisan grounds or to satisfy personal animosities, in or- 
der that the places and patronage attached thereto may be 
used for party advancement. 

*'I believe in an open and sturdy partisanship, which se- 
cures the legitimate advantages of party supremacy ; but 
parties were made for the people, and I am unwilling, 
knowingly, to give my assent to measures purely partisan, 
which will sacrifice or endansrer their interests.'* 

The causes which called out the veto of the bill, from 
which the last extract is made, are plainly given, and here 
we find as insignificant a measure as a bill to amend the 
Buffalo city charter giving rise to an enunciation of politi- 
cal wisdom sufficient for a national platform. Simple as it 
is, the extract contains the essence of governmental econ- 
omy, of civil service reform, of sturdy honesty and frank 
partisanship. 

It is this rare good sense and indomitable love of fairness 
that characterizes the greatest political reformer of the pres- 
ent era of American politics. Partisanship is legitimate 
and even beneficial, says he, unless it comes into collision 
with the interests of the people. To those it should and 
must be subordinated, and it must never be used to satisfy 
personal animosity, or for selfish ends. 

The next extract explains itself; 

"The persons who seek to be relieved under this bill, 
signed a bond to the State for the safe keeping and repay- 
ment on demand of certain moneys, deposited in behalf of 
the State in the First National bank of Buffalo. 

*'The bank has failed and is unable to refund the State's 
deposits. The securities in the bond have thus become liable 



122 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OP 

to pay the money and I can see no reason why they should 
be relieved. 

*'I am willing to do what I can to check the growing im- 
pression that contracts with the State will not be insisted 
upon, or may be evaded. The money deposited icith the 
bank teas public money belonging to the people^ and I regard 
it the duty of all having the care of State affairs to see to it 
that no part is lost by an improper indulgence to those who 
have agreed that it shoidd be safely kept.^' 

If this language were only common amongst those who 
have the people's interest and money in their charge, there 
would be fewer broken banks, defaulting cashiers, embez- 
zling clerks, thieving officials, and roguery and dishonesty 
generally. 

The great fault of our modern politics is that it is a rare 
thing that the best men are selected for officers. Usually 
chosen from the ranks of the ward politicans, or at least 
chosen by them, no high standard of honoris to be looked 
for. :-.'^^n> 

"A fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind," 

and the creature of the rings, placed in position by the low- 
est elements that curse our politics, sympathizes involunta- 
rily as well as by choice with other rogues of every degree, 
and he looks upon the robbery of decent people as something 
legitimate and proper; quite laudable, in fact. In Grover 
Cleveland this class has ever found an antasfonist vigilant 
and bold, ready at all times to thwart their knavery and un- 
compromising in his honesty. 



GROVEH CLEVELAND. 123 



CHAPTER XIV. 

PRACTICAL POLITICAL ECONOMY. 



PLUTAKCII IN EBONY. THE TWO SHERIFFS. UNCLE BILLY'S COM- 
PARISON. THE METHOD OF ONE SHERIFF. ZEAL OF HIS DEPU- 
TIES. EXPLOITS OF BILL JOHNSING. LADIES' MEN. AN- 
OTHER STYLE OF MAN. INTERRUPTING AGREEABLE EMPLOY- 
MENT. BUSINESS BEFORK PLEASURE. THE HORSE THIEF 

CAUGHT. OTHELLO'S OCCUPATION GONK. rA VERY COMMON 

COUNCIL. A POOR JOKE. HOW TO BUILD A SEWER. A MIL- 
LION DOLLARS IN SIX MONTHS. EXPECTATIONS REALIZED. A 

MAN WITHOUT OSTENTATION TERIUBLY IN EARNEST. NOT 

WORKING FOR POPULARITY. AN HONEST MAN OF BUSINESS. 

LAWYER AND CLIENT. AN ADMIRING OPINION. A PAINSTAK- 
ING GOVENOR. THE PEOPLE FIRST, PARTY AFTERWARD. 

The story of the hirk and the farmer, which is told in 
one of the readers, through which all of us have blundered 
with more or less unwillingness, has a parallel in a story 
that I once heard an old Kentucky negro tell to a jolly 
crowd, in a court-yard, in that State. He was comparing 
the merits of two sheriffs who had formerly lived in the 
county. 

*' Dey was bofe mighty good men, gemmen, dat dey 
was," said Uncle Billy, but de way dey go erbout ketchin' 
er boss thief, mighty diffunt, shore ! " 

"Well, what was the difference. Uncle Billy?" asked one 
of the auditors, who was well acquainted with both of the 
former officers. 

"Well, I'll jist 'splain dat, sar, " said Uncle Billy, "yer 
see, olc Marse Willium, he was mighty fond ob his ease, an 
he was mighty good natered, too, so when he heerd dey was 
er thief in de county, he jist said ter de deperties, ' Boys, 



124 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

yer mus' go out an bring in Bill Johnsing, he done stole 
ernudder boss. Doan burt bim, boys, if yer kin belp it, bis 
pore old f adder migbty good man.' Wid dat be lays back 
in bis big cbeer and goes on a readin." 

*' Well, de deperties dey starts out, and one ob em goes 
down ter Wesport, whar bis jularker libs, an be stays dar 
all dat day and nigbt, den be rides up ter bis borne and 
stays dat nigbt, an de naix day be gits back an be tells 
Marse Willium dat Bill Jobnsing done left de country, 
sbore." 

" De odder deperty, bis jucimspicer, sbe libs ober in de 
Floyd Fork naberhood, so be puts off in dat direction, an 
be wastes 'bout free days, an be comes in an says dat be 
guess Bill Jobnsing done evackerated dat ar secksbin, an 
dat bit was nothin' but a dern pore mule be tuck any bow." 
Dat same night Bill Johnsing done tuck ernudder boss, an 
be gets ober in Injianny wid em an sells em. 

*' That's about correct. Uncle Billy," said one of the 
deputies alluded to, who bad joined the crowd while the old 
darkey was talking, " How about the other sheriff." 

*' Well, den," said the privileged old story-teller, "dar 
was old Marse Naid, (Ned,) be was er diffunt sort er man. 
When Bill Johnsing done spend de money what be got fer 
dem bosses, be cum back from Injianny an be steal ernud- 
der. Den de news is tuck ober ter de tabbern whar olc 
Marse Naid playin' a little game er poker. Well, be jist 
swars er perfeck streak, cause he done struck er good streak 
er luck, an doan like ter quit, but he say to dem odder 
kyerders, * Boys, I'm got ter quit yer, hit's bizness before 
pleasure, but I'll sen one ob der deperties ober ter play my 
ban,' an den he has bis boss cotched an be gits on him an 
he rides, an rides, an rides, tell he ketches Bill Johnsing, 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 125 

an den he goes back ter de tabbern an lets de deperties go 
out an see dey gals." Dat's de way he do. 

"And you think, Uncle Billy, that if a man wants to do 
anything he must go about it himself, do you?" said one 
of the listeners. 

*' Who say I do, Marse Zach?" said the old fellow quiz- 
zically, *' I ain't got no say erbout hit, but I'll tell yer 
what Bill Johnsing say, cause I heerd im; he say dat ef all 
de sheriffs like ole Naid Taylor, de deperties an de boss 
thieves better gib up de purfession an 'tire from dey 
bizness." 

Just so if all of the Mayors and Governors were like 
Grover Cleveland, unprincipled legislators and thieving 
ringsters might well prepare to retire from politics and 
abandon their nefarious schemes. As an instance of this, we 
will mention an occurrence that happened soon after he was 
inducted into the Mayor's office of Buffalo. 

The Common Council — what a natural blunder is the pre- 
tended one of the Negro minstrel in alluding to this body 
as Common Scoundrels — had determined to build a sewer, 
which had become necessary, and had advertised for propo- 
sals for its construction. Buffalo had long been the para- 
dise of corrupt rings and conspiracies and nothing was 
thought of it when the lowest bid was found to be $1,568,- 
000 for completing the work. There is little doubt but 
that the council would have accepted this bid, or have 
voluntarily taken a higher one, as they had at least once 
before done, but they now had a superior who was no 
friend of jobs, nor thieves. 

Though opposed by the council, he procured the passage 
of a law allowing a commission to be appointed to see if 
the sewer could not be built at a less cost. He had paced 



12l> LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

off the ground, figured carefully on the cost of excavation, 
masonry, etc., and felt sure that it could be constructed 
for a much smaller amount. The commission was com- 
posed of representative men of Buffalo, who immedi- 
ately set about their work, mapped out the course and 
lenofth of the sewer and consulted the most eminent en- 
gineers of sewer and drainage construction in the country. 

Acting upon their advice, a plan was adopted that accom- 
plished the required improvement, for the sum of $7G4,- 
370,_a saving to the city of $803,630. 

If we add to this sura the amount saved by Mr. Cleve- 
land in the street cleaning contract already alluded to, and 
which amounted to $109,000, we see that the first six 
months of the reform Mayor saved the citizens of Buffalo 
nearly one million dollars. What his administration of the 
affairs of the State has saved must amount to something 
enormous. Was ever the election of a man to high oflSces 
better justified by the result than has been the placing of 
Grover Cleveland in positions of trust and honor? 

His phenomenal majority of almost two hundred thousand 
shows how the man and his honesty and firmness had im- 
pressed themselves upon the observation of the people of 
the largest, richest and alas ! most politically corrui)t State 
in the Union. All of the decent citizens felt that it was 
Cleveland, or corruption. If reform was to be had, the com- 
monwealth must look for it in the person of the man who 
had filled all positions honorably and well. There was no 
ostentation about him, he was a man too terribly in earnest 
to be vaincflorious. 

What his hand found to do, that he did with all thorough- 
ness and dispatch. There was no hurry about him, at least 
not of that fatal kind that causes mistake, neither was there 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 127 

any hesitancy. Nothing that he did was for the purpose of 
obtaining popularity, or of catching the public eye; if he 
satisfied his own conscience and filled the measure of his 
duty acceptably to himself,* he was content. There was 
nothing of self-seeking about him; the representative of 
the people, theirs was the interest that he studied. 

The methods of the politician he has ever especially 
avoided and his manner of dealing with men and measures 
has been that of an honest man of business. As an admirer 
said, during the Chicago Convention, ''Grover Cleveland 
always looks at the people's interest as if they were his 
clients who had entrusted him with the management of their 
affairs, and if I was a schemer or a politician, I'd as soon 
put my head into a hungry lion's mouth as to propose any 
fraudulent legislation to him." The description was a cor- 
rect one ; Cleveland treats the Slate or municipality with 
which he is connected, as executive, as an honest lawyer 
treats his clients, and woe to the conspirator who seeks to 
harm it. 

New York never before — if we except the administration 
of the grand Samuel J. Tilden — had so careful and pains- 
taking a Governor as Mr. Cleveland. In dealing with the 
Acts of the Legislature generally, he early developed his 
peculiarity of studying carefully every measure laid before 
him, not only with a view to judging of its effect and bear- 
ing upon public interests, but to ascertain that it was con- 
sistent with existing laws and free in its form from such 
defects as would produce trouble in its operation. He 
adopted a practice quite unusual of sending back measures, 
whose purpose he approved, but which were defective in 
form, to have them corrected. In his vetoes, which were 
quite numerous, he displayed the utmost candor and a com- 



128 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

plete disregard of the question whether certain persons or 
interests would not be agrieved by the failure of measures 
which he believed were not demanded by the wider interests 
of the public. 

If the people generally were benefitted, private and party 
interests must take care of themselves, for they were not 
permitted to clash with his duty to the State. The people 
lirst, party afterward, seems to have been his motto, and he 
has stuck to its enforcement with the rigid determination of 
an antique Roman. 



GROVEU CLEVELAND. 121) 



CHAPTER XV. 
Cleveland's early schooldays. 



CLEVELAND'S FIRST TEACHER. A FUND OF REMINISCENCES. A 

MANLY BOY. A THOROUGH SCHOLAR. A CLEAR ACTIVE MIND. 

THE CLASS IN ARITHMETIC. A MENTAL PROCESS. THE 

CORRECT ANSWER. A MODEST FELLOW. HONEST AND CON- 
SCIENTIOUS. FOND OF PLAY. COMPARED WITH HIS SCHOOL- 
MATES. A NATURAL LEADER. A SAFE COMPANION. HIS 

STANDING WITH HIS ELDERS. INDOMITABLE COURAGE. SUS- 

CESSFUL VENTURES. NOT A NAMBY PAMBY GOOD BOY. TEM- 
PER AND PUGNACITY. A UNIVERSAL CHAMPION. THERSITES 

IN MINIATURE. CUFFS AND KICKS. THOROUGLY WELL BAL- 
ANCED. EFFECTIVE ARGUMENTS. THEKSITES DISMISSED. 

MAGNIFICENT COMMON SENSE. 

In Fiiyetteville, New York, is located the firm of Bur- 
hans & Blanchard, proprietors of a planing mill and lumber 
yard at that place. One of the members of this firm is O. 
D. Blanchard, who was the teacher of Grover Cleveland 
when he attended the village school at that place. Mr. 
Blanchard is a hale, hearty, well-preserved gentleman, and 
when approached in regard to his now illustrious pupil 
evinced a perfect readiness to talk upon that subject. 

*'And so you want my reminiscences of Stephen Grover 
Cleveland as a school-boy, do you?" said Mr. Blanchard. 
*'VVell, as I think of him now I wonder if Grover was ever 
a boy. He had such a thorough determined way about him 
and did everything in so man-like and methodical a manner 
that he never did seem childish to me. Most boys, you 
know, do not take quite as naturally to books, as young 
ducks do to water, but he seemed to understand the import- 
ance of study and went about it as conscientiously and in 



130 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

as earnest a spirit as ever you saw a man undertake any- 
thing. 

**I can't say that he was brilliant — that is phenominally 
so — his mind was clear and retentive, but he did not, as 
some boys do, seem to grasp matters by intuition. This 
mio;ht have come from his habit of studying everything 
thoroughly and discarding all knowledge that came to him 
through any other channel than that of investigation. In 
order to more thorougly explain what I mean, let me give 
you a little instance. 

*'One day when his class in arithmetic was up to recite 
and figure upon the black-board, a rather difficult sum was 
given out. Several of the boys tried it and failed, and in 
lookinof down the line I noticed that Grover seemed to be 
deeply studying the matter. Most of the other boys were 
gazing carelessly about the room, as young boys are apt to 
do, but his whole mind was evidently concentrated upon the 
sum. At last his time to try to solve the puzzle came. 

"When he reached the black-board and took up the chalk 
I noticed that he made a line of small figures and then went 
on with the problem and worked it out in the fullest and 
most minute manner. Announcing the result, which was 
correct, I saw him give a hasty glance at the figures and 
then return to his seat in the class. Going up to the board 
in a casual sort of way I glanced at the figures he had first 
set down and saw that they made the correct answer to the 
sum, which he had worked out mentally. 

*'This was a chance for considerable self-glorification, 
but he was not that sort of a boy. Almost any other scholar 
in the school would have loudly announced that he had found 
the answer, but Grover seemed only anxious to see if he had 
been correct. In that as in everything connected with his 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 131 

studies, as I remember him, he seemed always to be certain 
about anything he undertook. #He never guessed at any- 
thing; if a question was asked that he did not understand, 
or could not answer, he bluntly said so, and never tried to 
arrive at it by a happy venture. 

*'0h, yes, he was fond enough of play," said the old 
gentleman in answer to a question, *' he was quite a leader 
amongst the boys in all of their sports. He didn't seem to 
me to be overly robust, but he had one of these fine, elastic 
physiques that can stand a great deal. In comparison with 
some of his playmates, he called to my mind the two swords 
of Saladin and Richard Coeurde Leon : the one of the finest 
Damascus steel; lithe, flexible, and perfectly tempered; the 
other strong, heavy and powerful. 

*' This, however, was true only of his' physical system; 
his mind was firm and unyielding as granite. He was one 
of the boys you must have often noticed, who, by their 
firmness and utter carelessness of popularity, lead others 
after them. The whole school might have made up its 
mind to do some certain thing, or go to some certain place, but 
I always noticed that if Grover determined to go in some 
other direction, he would not try to convince the others, 
but would get ready and pleasantly bidding the others good- 
bye, would start off. 

" Long before he had got out of sight, one after another 
of the boys would call to him to wait a moment, as they 
had something to say to him, and the upshot of the matter 
would be that at least three-fourths of the boys would fol- 
low him off. I was very glad of this, for there was never 
any accident occurred in the contingent that he led, and this 
fact became notorious around Fayetteville. 



132 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

** If a mother or father asked after a boy and was told that 
he was with Grover, all aa-xiety seemed to vanish at once. 
Whether he planned his expeditions more cautiously than 
the others, or whether it was mere luck, the parties he led 
seemed always to catch the most fish, pick the most berries 
and find the best swimming and skating places. His suc- 
cess in everything he undertook was something wonderful, 
if looked at in an ordinary way, though if properly in- 
quired into, it would no doubt be found to proceed from 
the fact that he never gave up. His pluck and determina- 
tion were absolutely indomitable." 

At this point the interviewer ventured the remark that he 
must have been quite a Sunday-school sort of a good boy. 
" Oh, no," said Mr. Blanchard, *' Not in the namby pamby 
sort of way we usually attribute to those supernaturally 
good children who are selected for such themes by the 
authors of Sunday-school literature. He was a very health- 
ily organized child, and had a proper amount of pugnacity 
and temper. He was not often engaged in fighting his own 
battles, for he was perfectly fair in everything, and would 
even concede a point to a comrade rather than squabble 
about it, but I suppose he fought more fights for others than 
any half dozen boys in the school. 

*' He could not bear to see anyone imposed on, and 
never hesitated to assume the quarrel of those who were 
weak, oroppressed. I remember one poor little fellow with 
some spinal affection, that kept Grover in continual hot 
water. Physically the child was weak, but mentally keen 
and bright, and like many other afilicted persons his mind 
took the bent of raillery, sarcasm and abuse. He was, 
in fact, a miniature Thersites, and the bitter thrusts of his 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 133 

tongue got him many a blow from boys who were not by 
any means tyrannical, or disposed to be oppressive. 

**Grover, as often as any of the others, had to bear these 
<wordy wounds', but so well balanced was his mind, that he 
never let them provoke him to chastise the railer. He 
argued with the others and showed them that it was wrong 
to hate and beat the cripple, but his most effective argu- 
ments were those he did not hesitate to deliver with his fists 
when he saw his protege abused. I suppose he had had a 
fight with nearly every boy in the school on account of the 
cripple, and at last I was forced to send the latter to his 
parents, with the advice to keep him at home, as he was too 
delicate to continue at school. 

**Grover left my school when he was thirteen, and as I 
have already told you, if he had any especial genius or talent 
at that time I never observed it. His most prominent charac- 
teristics were determination, thoroughness and conscientious- 
ness. He was the sort of a boy that everyone calls manly; 
nothing sneaking, or mean about him. He was entirely 
trustworthy, and was one of the few boys I have ever known 
who placed a proper value upon study. He made the best 
of every opportunity. His strongest point always seemed 
to me to be his magnificent common sense." 



134 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER XVI. 

A MODEL SCHOLAR. 



HIS STANDAIID FIXED. IMPULSIVE BUT NOT RASH. NOT MUCH OF 

AN ORATOR. GOOD NATURED SARCASM. POLL PARROT DEC- 
LAMATIONS. YOUNG CLEVELAND'S COMPOSITIONS. MODELS 

OP CORRECT TASTE. HONEST RAILLERY. BORN TO COMMAND. 

FIRM AND DECIDED. CHILDISH NECESSITIES. A GENERAL 

FAVORITE. FOND OF A JOKE. FAULTY PICTURES. GROV- 

ER'S FATHER. DEVOTED AND CAREFUL. A SAD BLOW. AN 

EXCELLENT WOMAN. HER SUNNY GOOD HUMOR. TUTOR AND 

PUPIL. A LOVE MATCH. A HAPPY FAMILY. CHILDISH 

ANECDOTES. NO INDICATIONS OP TALENT. A DIFFICULT SUM. 

A STUDIOUS SCHOLAR. THE BOOK AT FAULT. A FALLIBLE 

ARITHMETIC. A TEST OP JUDGMENT WITHOUT EGOTISM. 

** There was an utter absence in the boy of any desire to 
* show offi* " said Mr. Blanchard. ** He seemed to have 
fixed for himself some standard, and if he reached that, he 
appeared to be satisfied. Not that he was insensible to praise, 
but that he did not seem to depend upon it for his own ap- 
probation. He always did his own thinking and his meth- 
ods were very different from those of most boys. While 
ardent and impulsive, he never suffered himself to be led 
into anything with a rush. If, on reasoning the matter 
over, he thought well of a proposition, he would take hold 
with the greatest energy." 

Being questioned as to the boy's oratorical powers, his 
former teacher said, *'He gave no promise whatever of 
becoming an orator; in fact, he did not at all relish the day 
upon which declamations had to be made; Friday, I believe 
it was. It always appeared to me as if he were laughing, 
in his good-natured way, at the little fellows who would get 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 135 

up and spout in a grandiloquent manner the orations of 
Clay, Calhoun and Webster. When he himself had made 
an effort of the kind, he went back to his seat sarcastically 
smiling, as though he fully appreciated the incongruity of a 
mere child thus uttering, like a poll parrot, the wisdom of 
our political sages. 

**In composition he excelled any boy in the school by 
immense odds. He never affected long words, nor many 
adjectives. His efforts were marvels, not, of course, of 
literary work, but of simplicity and good taste. It was 
refreshing to place him last on the list and compare his 
terse sentences and one-syllabled words, with the florid, 
superlatives and involved paragraphs of most of the other 
boys. I have noticed the same thing in his messages to the 
Common Council of Buffalo and the State Legislature of 
New York. 

**He always possessed a great deal of good natured sar- 
casm, not of the kind that bites and stings, but of that 
kind, that like a healthful bitter, tones up the mind. I 
don't believe he could be a flatterer; he was always too 
honest for that. His popularity with the other boys was 
wonderful, and I've often seen boys his senior by two or 
three years, led by Grover as if he were born to command 
them. 

<'The cause of this I never understood, but every one who 
has had charge of children, or who has noticed them closely 
must have observed this peculiarity. You will see one boy 
who will start off by himself and immediately be followed 
by the large majority of his fellows, and yet you never see 
him make any effort for popularity. It cannot be magni- 
tism, but it may be decision and firmness, since most chil- 
dren find a necessity of relying upon some one, and would 



136 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

naturally select that comrade as a leader, who possessed 
these protective qualities. 

''Grover was a fine looking boy, very strong and active, 
but hardly giving any evidence of the massive power to 
which he attained at maturity. He was quite handsome 
and fully as much of a favorite with the girls as with the 
boys, but like all healthily organized boys, he seemed to 
prefer the companionship of his own sex. He was very ro- 
bust and fond of all out-of-door sports and exercises, in 
short he seemed an exceptionally healthy boy both mentally 
and physically. 

"He was fond of a good joke, but I never knew him to 
be guilty of a rude practical one. He was exceedingly quick 
and apt at repartee — noticeably so for a child. What is 
somewhat surprising in a lover of jokes and joking, he 
could stand them as well as make them, and really enjoyed 
one, even if it was at his own expense. His pictures, it 
seems to me, can hardly do his serene, smiling face justice, 
for they all have a severe look, while every line of his 
countenance denoted good nature. 

*'His father," said Mr. Blanchard, in reply to aquestion, 
*'was a Presbyterian minister and one of the most earnest 
men I ever saw. He was a thoroughly good man, a great 
student, and pale and intellectual looking. I hardly think 
Grover looks very much like him, though when he, his 
father and mother were together, the likeness shaded off 
from the parents into the boy in a wonderful manner. 
The father seemed to try harder to do good than to build 
up a reputation for pulpit eloquence, and certainly there 
was nothinc^ of modern sensationalism about him. 

"He was very careful of his children, and they were de- 
voted to him. His authority over them was unlimited, and 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 137 

this appeared rather to result from his uniform kindness 
and thoughtfulness than from any severity. His death 
was a sad blow to his family, which was broken up by 
this calamity. Grover's mother was one of the most amia- 
ble women in the world. In her young days she had been 
rarely beautiful and her disposition and manners were per- 
fect. T think Grover must have inherited his sunny good 
humor from her, as his father always seemed too deeply im- 
mersed in his Master's work to give any of his time to jest- 

**She was a Miss Neal of Balitmore, and certainly main- 
tained the reputation of that city for the beauty and grace 
of its women. Her marriage with Mr. Cleveland was a very 
happy one. T believe she used to go to school to him when 
he was teaching in her native city ; at any rate she meet him 
while he was occupied in that capacity, and soon after his 
ordination as a minister she married him. Their system of 
family government must have been a very complete one, 
for there was no wransflino- or bickerincr anions^ the children, 
and all seemed happy and contented." 

*'Do you remember any anecdotes of Grover or his 
schoolmates?" was next asked of the old teacher. 

*'None of any importance," said i\Ir. Blanchard. *'Over 
a quarter of a century of a busy life is apt to obliterate nearly 
everything of that kind from a person's mind. Of course, 
if I had looked upon any of the scholars as especially blessed 
with talent, I should have carefully preserved any evidences 
of it, but as I have before told you, Grover gave no indi- 
cations of being a genius, or if he did, I never so interpre- 
ted them. He impressed me only as being a boy of singu- 
lar force, conscientiousness and unity of purpose. 

**A few trival things occur to me at times, but they are so 



138 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

insignificant as to hardly merit relation. For instance, I 
had noticed him puzzling over a difficult sum one day and 
evidently he had become stumped. At last, after trying to 
work it in every possible way, he came up to me, while I 
was hearing a class in grammer recite, and asked me if the 
answer in the book was correct. 

*'Without looking at it, for I was very busy at the time, 
I told him that of course it was riofht." 

''And you think the answer given in the arithmetic can 
be worked out, do you, Mr. Blanchard?" 

"Of course it can, Grover," I answered somewhat petu- 
lantly, *'of course it can, if you go about it right.'' 

**With this he returned to his seat, and for over an hour 
was busy with slate and pencil. At the end of that 
time he came slowly up to my desk and in a firm but some- 
what reproachful tone informed me that the answer in the 
book was not correct. 

*'Don't you think that your figuring may lack correct- 
ness?" I asked him jokingly, "or is that infallible." 

**My figuring is correct," said the boy gravely, "if 
there's any mistake, it's in the book." 

"Struck with his earnestness I took the book and slate, and 
in working out the sum found that the wrong answer had 
been set down in the arithmetic. 

"It was the celebrated sum, in Smith's arithmetic of thirty 
or forty years ago, that either by design or accident has an in- 
correct answer affixed. I had never noticed this before my at- 
tention had been called to it by young Cleveland, but after 
that I often tried other scholars with it and never found a 
single one who exhibited the same confidence in the correct- 
ness of his reasoning and his work. Some would give it up 
after a few trials; some would come to me to work it for 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 139 

them, but none of them ever boldly proclaimed that he had 
applied to it every test of judgment and pronounced the 
book at fault, except Grover Cleveland. 

'*! don't want you to get the idea that his confidence arose 
from egotism, for he was not at all afflicted with that qual- 
ity ; it seemed to be the result of his sound reasoning 
powers and his manly confidence that if correct it could 
have been reached by the rules and tests that had been 
given for its solution." 



140 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER XVII. 

SOME ANECDOTES OF CLEVELAND, 



RARE GOODNATURE, A LOST MAN. AN ACCOMMODATING GUIDE. 

A GRATEP^UL DEBTOR. ^A SURPRISED MAN. AGAIN ASTRAY. 

THE GOVERNOR TO THE RESCUE. A SAFE PILOT. ADDI- 
TIONAL OBLIGATIONS. ANOTHER SURPRISE. LADY VISITORS. 

AN APPROACHABLE MAN. PUT AT EASE. A UNANIMOUS 

VOTE. A SUCCESSFUL ADMINISTRATION. PUZZLED CRITICS. 

FALSE REPORTS CIRCULATED. HONEST CRITICISM INVITED. 

READING THE PAPERS. ANNOYING FALSEHOODS. A FRIEND 

OF THE MASSES. WHAT DEMOCRACY MEANS. MR. CLEVELAND 

MISREPRESENTED. PROOFS OF HIS ASSERTIONS. UNSCRUPU- 
LOUS DEMAGOGUES. 

That Governor Cleveland is a man of rare good nature 
and without the slightest particle of **the pride of place" 
which characterizes so many public men, the following an- 
ecdote will testify. One of the courts at Albany has for 
its crier an old blind man, who has served so long in that 
capacity that he has become thoroughly familiar with the 
road between his home and the court-house. 

Occasionally, lost in a deep stud}', he misses his way and 
then his perplexity is pitiable. This was the case one day 
this spring and the Governor coming along was hailed and 
asked the direction to the court-house. 

**I am going part of the way there myself," said Mr. 
Cleveland, observing his blindness, *'if you wish I will go 
with you" and taking the old crier by the arm he led him 
along as far as the Capitol, from which the blind man said 
he would have no difficulty in finding his way. 

As he was about to start, he asked the name of his guide. 
**My name is Cleveland," said the Governor. 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 141 

*'Are you in business here in the city?" asked the blind 
man. *'Yes, I have an office up here in thecapitol." 

<'Why, you surely can't be the Governor, are you?" 

''Yes, I am, the Governor." 

This was quite an adventure for the old crier, and he 
never wearied of talking of the urbanity of Governor Cleve- 
hmd. Singularly enough, since his nomination for" Presi- 
dent the Governor again found the old man astray and tak- 
ing his arm he led him along toward the Capitol. 

On the way the blind man told his accommodating guide 
that not a great while before, he had lost his way and that 
a gentleman, whom he found out afterward to be the Gov- 
ernor of the State of New York, had met him and kindly 
led him on his way as far as the Capitol. 

**And now," said he, as his guide announced that they 
had reached the Capitol, and that he must stop there, ''to 
whom am I indebted for this kindness?" 

"You have encountered the Governor again," said Mr. 
Cleveland modestly, as he hastened off to escape the shower 
of thanks with which the old man proceeded to deluge him. 

This is but one of the hundreds of anecdotes that could be 
told of the kindliness and simple courtesy of Grover Cleve- 
land. 

To show how little there is of austerity in Mr. Cleveland 
and how truly his face types the big and humane heart that 
beats within his breast, we will relate a rather ludicrous 
occurrence that happened to a party of ladies who had come 
up from the rural districts to do Albany, and who had vis- 
ited the Capitol to get a sight of the much talked of reform 
Governor. 

Observing a group of men in one of the halls engaged in 
conversation, the spokesman of the party selected the 



142 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

pleasantest looking anrl most approachable one of the party 
and marching up to him asked if he could point out Mr. 
Cleveland, the Governor, to her and her companions. 

*'I can do so madam," he replied courteously, '*my 
name is Cleveland, and at present I am the Governor." 

The lad}^ who had expected to behold some wonderful 
form of man, was greatly abashed at having so boldly ap- 
proached a real live Governor, but she was soon made to 
feel perfectly at home, and when the ladies left, it is safe 
to sa}^ that had woman's suffrage been established, Mr. 
Cleveland would have got every vote in the party at the 
ensuing election. 

Since his successful administration of the affairs of his 
various offices and his thorough carrying out of his reform 
measures, his enemies have been nonplussed to find some- 
thing upon which to base a hostile criticism, and it seems 
that they have finally settled down upon his veto of the 
Five Cent Fare Bill of the New York elevated railways to 
prove that he is an enemy of the laboring masses. We 
have already shown the falsity of this charge and have 
shown that during the hours when these roads are used by 
working people the fare is already five cents. 

That this persistence in endeavoring to falsify his record 
and his feelings annoys him is but natural, though this is 
one of the few things he allows to weigh upon his mind. 
Honest criticism he rather enjoys, and says that he considers 
it perfectly legitimate and that it should be encouraged, as 
at times it might place matters in a new light to a public 
man, who might otherwise unintentionally go wrong. 

Some one asked him, not long since, if he ever read the 
newspapers that abused him. 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 143 

** Sometimes," said he, with a smile that broke out all 
over his face. 

*'Do you ever get disturbed over anything they say^" 

*'Not much. Every man has a right to enjoy his own 
mind. I remember an old fellow who was a neighbor of 
my father, and we would sometimes try to get him to come 
over to our church. He was a strong Baptist and he would 
always say: 'No; you folks are Presbyterians, and if I go 
over to your church I could not enjoy my mind.' Of course 
that was the end of the argument." 

*'What is the most annoying thing they have ever pub- 
lished about you, Governor?" 

*'WelI, I have been more surprised (and then he did 
twist just a little in his chair) at the way I have been misrep- 
resented as to the laboring men than anything else. I 
don't see how the idea ever got out in the first place that I 
have been opposed to the interests of the laboring men. I 
cannot remember one single act in my life that could be rea- 
sonably construed into anything inimical to their best 
interests. It has just been the other way with me. I have 
always taken particular pains, whenever it was in my power, 
to see their interests well guarded. But I have no fear as 
to the outcome. I have observed that laboring men have 
minds of their own as well as political principles, and when 
there has been a full investigation of my official life the 
facts will be made known and I am not uneasy as to the re- 
sult. They talk about the workingmen as if they were a 
lot of sheep to be corraled or scattered by this man or that. 
Most workingmen are natural Democrats. Democracy 
means the rule of the people, and the Democratic party has 
always been the natural friend of all the working men. I 
do not think any great number of those who are in my party 



144 LIFE AXD PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

will fail to vote for me. First, because they are naturally 
disposed to go with their party, and second, because they will 
learn lous: before election day that my attitude toward them 
has been misrepresented." 

His defense of himself is amply proved by his adminis- 
tration, which has, wherever honor and good faith would 
permit, been directed again.^t the few and in favor of the 
many. He has proved by his deeds, which speak louder 
than any words he might use, that he is a true Democrat, 
a friend of the people and the enemy of monoply and fraud. 
Certainly the masses will not suifer themselves to be im- 
posed upon by unscrupulous demagogues at the expense not 
only of their champion, but also of their own best interests. 



GROVER CLE^TELAND. 145 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE CULMIXATING PERIOD. 



A RECAPITULATION. IN SEAKCII OF WISDOM. THE COI'NTY CLERK. 

TEACHING THE BLIND. EDITING STOCK BOOKS. THE 

LAWYER'S CLERK. THE FIRST PREFERMENT. ORDER OUT OF 

CHAOS. A BITTER FIGHT. REFORM THE VICTOR. A POLITI- 
CAL PRODIGY. THE PEOPLE'S CHAMPION. INALIENABLE 

RIGHTS. HONEST REPUBLICAN ACTION. A BROADER FIELD OF 

LABOR. UNWAVERING FIDELITY. A RAPID ELEVATION. 

ABLE STATE PAPERS. A SOUND POLITICAL MAXIM. NEVER 

OUT OF DATE. THE USE OF WORDS. A THOROUGH LA^VYER. 

HONEST INSTITITIONS. SEDUCTIVE JOBS UNVEILED. A 

LABORING MAN. FOURTEEN HOURS A DAY. A DEMOCRATIC 

OFFICER. NO LACKEYS, NOR CEREMONY. A UNIVERSAL TRIB- 
UTE. 

We now approach the cuhninating period in the life of 
Grover Cleveland. AVe have seen him as a school-boy seek- 
ing eagerly for that best of all earthly possessions, knowl- 
edge, and with manly persistence availing himself of every 
opportunity that presented itself. We have seen him as a 
youth clerking in a country store and filling his small sphere 
of usefulness honestly and well. "We have seen him next 
as the tutor of those unfortunates, the inmates of New 
York's Institution for the Blind. Then comes the real 
strucrsle in life's arena, the settins; forth in search of for- 
tune. 

Editing stock books, and good ones at that, for his uncle 
Lewis F. Allan is an authority in such matters, and acting 
as under clerk in a lawyer's office are his next occupations, 
and then comes a preferment; his promotion to the chief 
clerkship with Messrs. Rogers, Bowen &, Rogers. Fortune 
now favors the man who had asked no favors of any 



146 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

one, and we see him reach successively the Assistant Dis- 
trict Attorneyship, the Sheriffalty of Erie county and the 
Mayoralty of Buffalo. 

All of these positions were filled as they had never be- 
fore been tilled. Order was brought from official chaos, 
reforms were inaugurated and successfully carried out, and 
fraud and corruption banished. A new order of affairs 
prevailed in high places, and the theives and ringsters were 
struck dumb with amazement. Of course they made a 
fight, a bold and bitter one, to retain their thieving privi- 
leges, but their battle was in vain and one by one they were 
vanquished. 

These combats of reform against corruption, of honesty 
against fraud, hadattracted the eyes of the State which had 
been made their arena. The reform Ma3^or of Buffalo was 
looked upon as a political prodigy, a thoroughly honest offi- 
cial in the midst of the unbounded corruption and dis- 
honesty that characterized the politics of the grand Empire 
State. Here was a champion of the people, not only able 
but willing: to rescue them from the official bandits that had 
so long plundered them that they had come to look upon 
this as one of their inalienable rights. 

This was the pian, all honest people felt, to rescue the 
State from its spoilers, and he was next nominated by the 
Democrats for the gubernatorial office. To the honor of 
those members of the Republican party who did not believe 
that party politics should be carried to the extent of aiding 
in party frauds or upholding with their ballots party thieves 
and corruptionists, be it said that they either held aloof 
from the polls or else cast their votes for Grover Cleveland, 
and he was elected by the unprecedented majority of one 
hundred and ninety-six thousand. 



GROVER cle\t:land. 147 

On the broader field which was now entrusted to him his 
tactics did not vary. He had been selected by the people 
to honestly administer his office, and that he would do, come 
what mio:ht of it. As Governor of the State he exhibited 
the same judgment — the outcome of sound practical com- 
mon sense — the same honor and the same integrity that had 
shown forth so conspicuously in his former administration 
of public trusts. 

The elevation from one high office to another still higher — 
rapid though it had been — did not cause him to lose his 
head. To every measure proposed by the Legislature he 
gave earnest study and a sound reason for every official 
action. All of his State papers are sound, logical and wise, 
but some of them seem almost the result of inspiration. 
All are expressed in terse, vigorous English and convey no 
doubtful meaning. A spade is called a spade and politi- 
cal jobbery is sternly rebuked as such. 

We find him carrying out here his maxim that ''the af- 
fairs of public offices should be conducted as a safe and pru- 
dent business man conducts his private affairs." It is use- 
less to hunt further for a shorter or sounder rule of action 
in public matters. New York's practical reformer has 
struck the key-note and laid down an axiom that will serve 
as a guide a thousand years from now. Like good common 
sense it can never grow out of date nor out of usefulness. 
It is the essence of political wisdom. 

Words were used by the reform Governor, not to cover 
up and disguise ideas, or the want of them, but in a tren- 
chant manner to dissect fraud and trickery wherever he 
found them. There is no mistaking his meaning; no con- 
struing his no into a covert yes, nor his disapproval into 
acquiescence. The State legislators soon learned to know 



148 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

that what Governor Cleveland said, he meant, and they also 
learned to recognize the fact that he could quote not only 
cogent reasons for his actions and beliefs, but in addition 
could point out all of the law bearing on the case 

No matter how seductive the job, nor how neatly dis- 
guised, Mr Cleveland, with the instinctive intuition of hon- 
esty, penetrated its veil and stripped from it its tinsel trap- 
pings, exposing it in all the hideous nakedness of its true 
character. Had he not been the most industrious and 
pains-taking Executive that ever sat in a Governor's chair, 
this could not have been done, for using every possible 
mode to trap him into approval, the title of a bill but sel- 
dom proved a true index to its intent. It was only by ear- 
fully reading and cautiously studying out their purposes 
that many speciously entitled bills failed of passage. 

Even had he never been a laboring man before, his ardu- 
ous labors at Albany, in the cause of honesty, reform and 
good government, would entitle him to membership in any 
working man's club that the country contains. From nine 
— often eisjht — in the mornino: to eleven or twelve at nifijht 
have been and still are his hours for work. With this work 
official dignity has never been allowed to interfere and he 
buckles to it in his shirt sleeves like a man who is terribly 
in earnest, and that he is so no one doubts that has ever 
seen him at his task. 

Nothing important is left to his secretaries; legislative en- 
actments, applications for pardons, examination of appli- 
cants and all such matters, he finds time for, himself, in 
addition to his other duties. His Secretary, Col. Lamont, 
himself sufficiently energetic and attentive, says that Gov- 
ernor Cleveland can do more work than any three men he 
ever saw. 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 149 

His work room is his reception room, and here any 
citizen of the State, 

"The humblest vassal, the obscurest tradesman, 
The very leper, shrinking from the sun, though loathed by charity," 

finds a courteous greeting and a cordial welcome. There is 
no sending up of cards by a liveried lackey, no cooling of 
heels in far-off ante-chambers, but every one is free to 
visit and claim audience with this servant of the people. 
If nowhere else on earth, true democracy certainly reigns 
in the Capitol at Albany. 

This, be it understood, is no partisan panegyric, but it is 
the universal tribute paid by all to New York's model 
reformer. Take the best sentiment of the State, its most 
cultivated citizens, its most earnest ministers, its most in- 
fluential papers, and last but not least, the grand mass of 
the people, and the same praise is everywhere heard, not 
from those of Democratic belief only, but from all who 
deem honesty and honor a requisite of good citizenship and 
of 2:ood government. 



150 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE TWO NOMINATIONS THEIR MEANINGS. 



REPUBLICAN RULE IN 1876. POLITICS AND PRINCIPLES. A PARTY 

THAT NEVER DIES. BRIBERY AND PREJUDICE. A CHANGE OF 

POLICY. THE THIRD TERM FALLACY. A RECKLESS EXECU- 
TIVE. GREEDY OF WEALTH AND POWER. SAMUEL J. TILDEN, 

THE REFORMER. HIS ELECTION TO THE PRESIDENCY. THE 

INFAMOUS EIGHT. THEIR GRANDEST INFAMY. A THRIFTY 

LITTLE CREATURE. MAKING A FORTUNE. A DEMOCRATIC MIS- 
TAKE. THE SAGE OF GREYSTONE. TOO LATE. HOPING 

AGAINST HOPE. A FATEFUL TELEGRAM. NEW YORK'S SECOND 

REFORMER. THE REPUBLICAN CHALLENGE. WHAT ITS NOM- 
INATIONS MEAN. DEEDS VERSUS WORDS. POLITICAL BAN- 
DITS. DEMOCRATIC NOMINATIONS. WHAT TllEY MEAN. 

ACTUAL AND PRACTICAL REFORM. 

In 1876 honest people of all shades of political opinion 
had become tired of the corruption and downright thievery 
that cursed radical rule and permeated every fiber of the 
body politic. The naval and postal departments which 
afterward blossomed out as peculiarly gorgeous in their 
iniquities were at this time no more rotten than every 
other branch of the administration. Robbery was the rule, 
honesty the exception with the party in power. 

Decent Republicans, those with whom politics represented 
a principle and not a machine by which robbery was 
made safe, easy and profitable, had revolted in numbers 
from their party and had declared that until its methods 
were changed they would give it neither aid nor countenance. 
At this juncture the deathless Democracy sought for a fit- 
ting candidate to place before the people as their leader — a 
man so identified with reform that there could be no mis- 
take as to his course if elected President. 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 151 

For years this had been their course, but they had ever 
found party prejudice and the bribery and illegal practices 
of the Republican party an impassible barrier to public fa- 
vor, and their ablest and purest statesmen had been suc- 
cessively beaten. This time, however, the masses of the 
Republican party themselves realized that if deliverance 
from official corruption and oppression were to be secured 
at all, it must be secured through the Democracy. 

In their own convention they had narrowly escaped from 
the infliction of a third candidacy of a man who, however 
they might have regarded him as a general, they could not 
but see was a reckless civil executive, guilty of shameful ac- 
tions and associations, greedy of wealth and power, and un- 
mindful of the traditions of the Republic. 

In his place had been nominated an unknown creature 
whom the party leaders felt would be as wax in their hands, 
and the voters, too, mistrusted his firmness and ability. He 
was in the very worst sense of the term a compromise can- 
didate of but little promise and that little not of the best. 
To oppose him the Democrats selected a man who had 
proved himself able to cope with rings and roguery whether 
in municipal or State matters, and their nomination was 
tendered to New York's reform Governor, Samuel J. Tilden ; 
a man whose purity and patriotism wnll be deathless themes 
as long as the memory of the American Republic survives. 

Elected by a popular majority of two hundred and fifty 
thousand and a sufficient electoral vote to give to him the 
Presidency, he was counted out by the "infamous eight" 
Republican officials who composed the majority of the 
Electoral Commission. This was the crowning Republican 
infamy; never before in all of their outrages had they been 
able to thus, by a single blow, strike down the liberty of 



152 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

every citizen, high and low, and to make American citizen- 
ship a by-word and a reproach. 

The thrifty little creature who profited by this outrageous 
theft, left the Presidency at the end of his term richer by 
nearly two hundred thousand dollars than when he entered it 
four years before, but despised by every decent citizen of 
the United States, and to-day is forgotten even by his own 
party, one of whose ablest leaders boasts that in all his 
speeches he never once mentioned the name of this creature. 

In 1880, the Democracy made the mistake of not again 
placing in nomination their defrauded chiefs, Tilden and 
Hendricks, and again they were beaten. As 1884 approached, 
a cry for the grand old sage of Grey stone went up, but it 
was too late. Eight years had added greatly to the infirmi- 
ties of the patriot, and he recognized the fact that on some 
younger man must devolve the duty of leading the Demo- 
cratic hosts to victory. Like Seymour his cry went forth 
•*'Your candidate I cannot bo." 

Hoping against hope, the masses clamored for Tilden, 
who in a letter declined a nomination, asserting that it was 
too late and that he could not accept. Even after the gath- 
ering; of the clans at Chicao-o, numbers cluno^ to the fond 
delusion until the reception of the following telegram: 

*<Greystone, July 5. — Hon. William H. Barnum, 
Chicago, III.: I have received your telegram, informing 
me of the disposition to nominate me for the Presidency, 
and asking; *Will you accept a unanimous nomination from 
the convention?' and also a telegram from Mr. Manning, 
saying: 'It seems absolutely necessary that you (I) should 
answer Barnum' s telegram as soon as possible.' Your in- 
quiry was explicitly answered in the negative by my letter 
of June 13th, to Mr. Manning. S. J. Tilden." 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 153 

This settled the matter finally and the people now deter- 
mined, if they could not have their old chief, as nearly as 
possible to select one his equal in honor and integrity and 
minus the infirmity of his years. 

With one accord Grover Cleveland, New York's second 
reform Governor, was declared to be the man. He possesed 
all of the honesty, all of the firmness and all of the capacity 
of Tilden and in addition he was in the prime of life and just 
entering the full maturity of his powers. He was no un- 
known quantity in American politics, his administration had 
been cursed with no uncertainties. In his vocabulary re- 
form had no indefinite signification. It was not merely 
an idle breath, but it meant to purify, to regenerate, to 
abolish evil and to rehabilitate honesty and purity. 

The Republican party had met a month before them and 
had declared to the people what their policy would be. 
The selection of their candidates spoke as clearly as words 
could express it *'We are in for another campaign in which 
brilliant fraud and magnetic corruption shall be our watch- 
words. The Dorseys, Elkins', Eobesons, Chandlers and 
Kelloggs shall be our leaders. Public plunder is our aim. 
Grasping railroads and infamous star routers shall be our 
proteges. Thieves shall rule, while honest labor toils on in 
agony. The navy shall be the prey of thieving secretaries 
and their boon companions, swindling contractors." 

All this and much more their deeds spoke more plainly 
than the ambiguous words of their platform, which might 
mean anything and really means nothing. Their standard 
bearers' reputations proclaimed aloud, *'We are for ignorant 
demagoguery, we are for railroad jobbery, we are for Zuni 
Indian lands, we are for Peruvian guano beds — in short, we 



154 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

are for political bandits, we are for general jobbery, rob- 
bery and corruption." 

To oppose this platform and these candidates, the Democ- 
racy put up men whose record is such that there is 
not an evil point upon which foul calumny can hang a sin- 
gle evil accusation. Their deeds guarantee the platform of 
honesty, honor and reform. Their election means no more 
robbery of the public funds, no more thieves in public 
places, no more robbery in the post office or the navy, no 
moreBradys and Dorseys, no more Robesons, Roaches and 
Chandlers. It means economy of adminstration, abolish- 
ment of useless offices and officers, it means low taxation 
and no favored classes, it means a navy that can protect the 
American citizen any where beneath the grand canopy of 
heaven — in short it means actual and practical reform. 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 155 



CHAPTER XX. 



NOMINATION OF CLEVELAND. 



MUSTERING OF THE CLANS. A GRAND GATHERING. SPEEDING THE 

HAPPY NEWS. HOW IT WAS RECEIVED BY GOVERNOR CLEVE- 
LAND. HARD AT y/ORK. SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS. A DIS- 
APPOINTED CROWD. A SLIGHT CHANGE. KEEPING LATE 

HOURS. NOT AT ALL EXCITED. DOUBT AND UNCERTAINTY. 

TAMMANY'S POLITICAL PIRATES. THE TELEPHONE'S WHISPER- 
INGS. WHEELING INTO LINE. STAMPEDE OF THE STATES. 

THE SIGNAL GUN. CLEVELAND'S CONSIDERATION FOR OTHERS. 

ADMITTING THE CROWD. A LABORING MAN'S PROPHECY. 

THE MAN OF AND FOR THE PEOPLE. RECEIVING CONGRATULA- 
TIONS. A FLOOD OF TELEGRAMS. 

When the Democratic Convention — the grandest political 
assemblage the world has ever witnessed — had finished the 
greater part of its labors and Grover Cleveland had been 
nominated as its candidate for President of the United 
States, the whole country was wild with enthusiasm. The 
telegraphic wires carried the news into every city, town and 
village throughout the country and every where the voices 
of the people rent the air with cheers for the people's can- 
didate, the New York reform Governor. 

Let us see how the news was received by the nominee 
himself, that would naturally be supposed to be the man of 
all others most excited by and interested in the nomination. 
He did not betray the slightest excitement, in fact so little 
did the news of the balloting discompose his usual calmness 
that he continued steadily at work. When the first after- 
noon's balloting was expected, a number of his friends 
dropped into the executive chamber where he sat at his desk, 
engaged in his daily routine of business. 



156 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

When the afternoon had passed away without any ballot- 
ing and the adjournment was proposed and carried, much 
disappointment was evinced by his assembled friends, who 
looked upon this as ominous of his defeat. Not a tone of 
Mr. Cleveland's voice, not a muscle of his face betrayed 
the slighest anxiety in regard to the matter. He conversed 
cheerily and his good humor and witty remarks were as 
conspicuous as ever. 

But a single change in his usual routine was discernable, 
he did not return to his office after his 5 o'clock dinner, as 
had been his custom, but spent the rest of the evening at 
the executive mansion, surrounded by a pleasant family cir- 
cle composed of his sisters. Miss Rose Cleveland and Mrs. 
William E. Hoyt, and his nieces, the Misses Hastings. Some 
friends were also present and bulletins arrived every few 
minutes. 

Not one in the group appeared so unconcerned as did Mr. 
Cleveland. Wben the first ballot was announced he said, 
"This is as large a figure as expected at first." It was some 
time after this that the adjournment to the next day was 
carried. "This delay looks bad," said Mr. Cleveland, "I 
can't say that I like it." "The convention adjourned un- 
til ten o'clock to-morrow," said the telephone at about 
half-past two o'clock. 

"Don't you think this is keeping rather late hours for 
very small results?" asked the Governor jokingly, as he 
bade all good night. 

Before ten o'clock the next morning Mr. Cleveland was 
at his desk in the Capitol hard at work and seemingly ob- 
livious of the fact that that day held in its balance his fate 
as the nominee of his party- If he thought of it at all, there 
was enough of doubt and uncertainty presaged in the action 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 157 

of yesterday's convention to carry to his soul a harrowing 
anxiety. The extreme rancor of the Tammany gang had 
been plainly developed, and it was clearly to be seen that 
they would leave no means unused to defeat him. 

Anxious only for the spoils of municipal offices, these 
pirates had more than once shown their readiness to scuttle 
the Democratic ship, if the city of New York were not de- 
livered to them bound hand and foot. Grover Cleveland 
they knew would consent to no such infamy, and hence 
they hated him as a thief ever hates a vigilant officer, or as 
the devil detests holy water. 

The telephone began its whisperings early and in spite of 
a turn toward Hendricks in some of the delegations, there 
was perceptible a strong undertow that seemed bound to 
give the nomination to the reform Governor. When North 
Carolina turned to him, and Pennsylvania wheeled into line, 
it was plain to see that the prize was his. Of course the 
telephone could not detail that wonderful tidal wave that 
ensued, the stampede of States to turn in their votes to the 
child of reform and of destiny. 

The storm is ever preceded by a lull, and the silence of 
the telephone, after announcing the action of North Carolina 
and Pennsylvania, was ominous. While every one was 
anxiously awaiting further news there burst upon the si- 
lence the booming of a heavy cannon. 

''That settles it," said the Governor turning to Col. 
Lamont. "The first gun for the Democracy," said the latter, 
as he turned to open the door of the Governor's private 
office to admit the crowd waiting; to cono^ratulate him. 

''Come in," he said warmly to the waiting crowd, and 
the rush began. Before the door had been opened, how- 
ever, Mr. Cleveland had said gently to one of the secre- 



158 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

taries, < 'Please go over to the mansion, sister will be glad 
to hear this." 

In the line that passed through the office were all kinds 
and conditions of men. There were the politicians, but 
not those alone, for in the mass were private citizens, men 
of wealth, and day laborers from the city's streets. One of 
the first to seize the extended hand of the Governor was a 
laborer with a tattered hat and in his shirt sleeves. "God 
bless you, President Cleveland — I should say Governor 
Cleveland, but I'll let it go, for you will be President," he 
said as he passed on. 

With General Farnsworth upon his right and Colonel 
Lamont on his left, the Governor stood serene and dignified 
as ever, receiving the handshakings and congratulations of 
those that crowded into the room. It was a popular ovation 
to honor and integrity, and was a sight but seldom seen in 
this age of the Rupublic. It was a democratic reception of 
the people by the people's servant and representative. 

When the human tide had flowed through the room, then 
began a steady stream of telegrams, of the thousands of 
which we give a few. 

There were messasfes from all the briojhtest and best of 
the Democracy in the land; Hoadly, Thurman, McClellan 
and Bayard were heard from, besides a host of lesser lights. 

The following are specimens of what were sent: 

**I congratulate you and the country ; I heartily congratu- 
late you upon your nomination. 

Geo. B. McClellan." 

* 'Accept my best wishes for your triumphant election and 
assurance of my thorough and steadfast support in the can- 
vass. T. 8. Bayard." 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 159 

''Glory hallelujah ! 

J. E. Campbell, of Alabama." 

"My choice from the beginning ; Texas will give you over 
one hundred thousand majority. 

Richard B. Hubbard." 

Buffalo, N. Y., July 11. 
''To Grover Cleveland, Executive Chamber, Albany, N. Y. 
The day of jubilee has come ; the old law office sends a 
thousand congratulations. G. J. Sicard." 

The first from Chicago was from the editor of The 
Worlds and said : 

"Congratulate you and the cause of good government. 
You are nominated. Pulitzer." 

Gov. Hoadly telegraphed: 

"I congratulate you and our country. We are now firing 
100 guns. Ohio leads the column for your victory. 

George Hoadly." 

The Hon. George D. Wise, of Virginia, telegraphed: 
"Virginia will give you 30,000 majority." 

The Chairman of the Democratic Committee of West 
Virginia telegraphed: "Congratulations and enthusiastic 
support." 

Congressman Leopold Morse: "Your nomination is an 
indorsement of honest independence in public office. Ac- 
cept my congratulations." 

The Chairman of the Washington County Committee 
sent: "We will give you the largest Democratic vote ever 
cast in the county." 

A Boston dispatch read: "Republican Grover^ of Mas- 
sachusetts congratulate you. — W. D. Grover." 



160 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

A Springfield (Mass.) Bourbon sent: *'A depressed and 
defrauded country hopes for your election. " 

The Hebrew banking firm of Wormser & Co., New 
York^ sent hearty congratulations, and expressed the be- 
lief that the nomination would be indorsed. 

The Boston Herald sent congratulations. Aaron J. Van- 
derpool telegraphed the congratulations of the New York 
Manhattan club, which believed the nomination meant vic- 
tory. 

Baltimore Democrats sent word that Maryland would 
give Cleveland 20,000 majority. 

From Rochester a dispatch was sent, stating that 100 
guns were being fired and great enthusiasm prevailed. 

The Utica Observer declared that it entered the cam- 
paign with the utmost zeal. 

Dispatches followed from ex-Senator William H. Murtha, 
ex-Senator C. E. Patterson, Deputy Treasurer E. K. Ap- 
gar, and the Buffalo JVeivs, 

The Hardwick Metal Works Factory at Buffalo sent a dis- 
patch : 

* 'Forty-seven workingmen in our factory join with me in 
congratulating you. A. H. Hardwick." 

Other dispatches read: 

''Norfolk Va., congratulates you and believes you will be 
triumphantly elected. Virginia will do her best. 

M. T.Cook." 

' 'New York : We congratulate you. 

H. H. Warner." 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 161 

New York: The best elements of the party are with you. 
The masses of the whole country favor honest administra- 
tion of public affairs. John C. Latham." 

Gov. McLane, of Maryland, says: *'Accept my felicita- 
tions and conviction that you will be elected." 

S. S. Cox says: **I join with crowds of friends in salu- 
tation and rejoicing. Your election is only a question of 
time." 

The heads of delegations and prominent citizens all sent 
congratulations. N. F. Smith, of Williamstown, Mass., 
says: **Have voted Republican ticket twenty-four years 
and will vote for Cleveland." 

G. B. Warren, of Troy; D. C. McMillan, of New York ; 
Senator Kiernan, Mayor Edson and L. C. Cassidy, Attor- 
ney-General of Pennsylvania, all sent hearty congratula- 
tions. 



162 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER XXI, 

A DAY IN CAJVIP. 



THE GOVERNOR SERENADED. A SENSIBLE SPEECH. AT WORK 

AGAIN. VISIT TO THE STATE CAMP. ALL PARADE AVOIDED. 

QUIETLY ''DROPPING IN." ARRIVAL AT CAMP. TWENTY- 
ONE GUNS. AN EXCITED VILLAGE. "THE BOLD SOLDIER 

BOYS.'- PRESENT ARMS ! A SOLDIER'S LUNCH. AN IM- 
PROMPTU RECEPTION. A DUSKY PHILOSOPHER. DAN JOHN- 
SON'S GUESS. LUDICROUS COMBINATIONS. ANTIQUE AND MOD- 
ERN STYLES. "WE ARE GOING TO FIGHT IT OUT." A DEMO- 
CRATIC INCIDENT. THE DELAYED REVIEW. THE GOVERNOR'S 

DEPARTURE. ENTHUSIASTIC CHEERING. ON THE TRAIN. 

When night came the Jackson Corps and the Young Men's 
Democratic Club of Albany secured a band and gave the 
Governor a serenade at the executive mansion. When the 
music had ceased loud cheers and calls for '^Cleveland" 
were heard, an immense crowd having gathered around the 
serenaders. In answer to these calls Mr. Cleveland stepped 
to the edge of the upper terrace and spoke as follows : 

* 'Fellow Citizens — I cannot but be gratified with this 
kindly greeting. I find that I am fast reaching the point 
where I shall count the people of Albany not merely as fel- 
low citizens, but as townsmen and neighbors. On this occa- 
sion I am, of course, aware that you pay no compliment to 
a citizen and present no personal tribute, but that you have 
come to demonstrate your loyalty and devotion to a cause 
in which you are heartily enlisted. The American people 
are about to exercise in its highest sense their power and 
right of sovereignty. They are to call before them their 
public servant and the representatives of political parties 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 163 

and demand of them an account of their stewardship. Par- 
ties may be so long in power and may become so arrogant 
and careless of the interests of the people as to grow heed- 
less of their responsibilities to their masters. But the time 
comes, as certainly as death, when the people weigh them 
in the balance. The issues to be adjudicated by the nation's 
great assize are made up and are about to be submitted. 
We believe that the people are not receiving at the hands of 
the party, which for nearly twenty-four years has directed 
the affairs of the nation, the full benefits to which they are 
entitled, of a pure, just and economical rule, and we believe 
that the ascendancy of genuine Democratic principles will 
insure a better government and greater happiness and pros- 
perity to all the people. To reach the sober thought of the 
nation, and to dislodge an enemy entrenched behind spoils 
and patronage involves a struggle, which, if we underesti- 
mate, we invite defeat. I am profoundly impressed with 
the responsibility of the part assigned to me in the contest. 
My heart, I know, is in the cause and I pledge you that no 
effort of mine shall be wanting to secure the victory which 
I believe to be within the achievement of the Democratic 
hosts. Let us then enter upon the campaign now fairly 
opened, each one appreciating well the part he has to per- 
form, ready with solid front to do battle for better govern- 
ment, confidently, courageously, always honorably, and 
with a firm reliance upon the intelligence and patriotism of 
the American people.'* 

When he concluded the crowd was allowed to pass in at 
the front door and pay its respects to the governor and re- 
tire through the side door. This was kept up for several 
hours. The next morning Mr. Cleveland was up at his 



164 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

usual hour and at work, glad that the fuss and confusion at- 
tendant upon the nomination was over. 

The nomination for the highest office in the gift of the 
American people entailed no cessation from labor for this 
sturdy Democrat. The people's servant, he felt the same 
necessity for honest and earnest work that he would have 
felt incumbent upon him had he been employed by a private 
firm or a public corporation. He is no holiday soldier, no 
make-belief laborer, dallying with his tasks as a coquette 
with her fan, but an energetic man anxious to give to his 
State the full value of his services. 

On the 18th of July he visited the State Camp of In- 
struction, at Peekskill, to review the militia gathered at 
that point. Wishing to avoid a set reception and the glamour 
that he knew would await a Presidential candidate, if his 
arrival were publicly announced, he quietly dropped in on 
<* the boys," as he called them, without notification. His 
sole attendants were his two charming nieces, and every 
effort was made to avoid any show or parade. 

His train reached Roa Hook at 11: 05 a. m., and he was 
there met by General Wylie and Adjutant General Farns- 
worth. A few of the country people were at the depot, 
but none of them seemed to recognize in the portly and 
dignified gentleman the chief executive of their State. A 
carriage with two handsome bay horses had been provided, 
and entering it Mr. Cleveland and his nieces were driven 
rapidly to the camp. 

Colonel Ward, the officer of the day, had been apprised 
of the coming of the Governor, and he had also been noti^ 
fied not to vary the ordinary camp routine on his account. 
As the carriage bowled briskly into the main avenue of the 
camp and sped along the color line, a salute of twenty-one 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 165 

guns, from a battery concealed in the dense woods, rang 
out upon the air. This device of Colonel Story to do honor 
to the visitors told the tale to the villagers that something 
unusual was going on at the quarters of the *' bold soldier 
boys," and when some of the rustics, who had witnessed 
the arrival of the train, told of the party they had seen, 
there was a general exclamation of *' Governor Cleveland." 

The men were in their battalion drill, as the carriage came 
dashing along by the mess-room and through the square, 
and in a few liofhtnino^-like evolutions a line of battle was 
formed and with a rattling clash all came to a present arms. 
The line passed, the carriage was stopped, and dismount- 
ing, Mr. Cleveland assisted the young ladies to dismount, 
and the party disappeared in the pretty little cottage occu- 
pied by Colonel Ward as headquarters. 

A short rest and then there was an adjournment to the 
officers' mess-room — the dining-room of the cottage — where 
an appetizing lunch was served. At this meal the com- 
pany and regimental officers were present, and it proved 
quite an enjoyable affair, especially to the young ladies, 
who looked upon the whole affair as a delightfid pic-nic. 
Through the many windows came the welcome breezes from 
the cool waters of the Hudson, giving a zest to the viands 
such as is rarely known at city tables. 

The lunch was hardly over when a steady stream of the 
villao^ers set in and soon throno^ed the narrow streets and 
lanes of the camp. They came by boat, buck-board, buggy, 
carry-all, hack and wagon; all anxious to pay their respects 
to the man Avho, in addition to the fact that he was already 
their Governor, was almost certain to be their President. 
It was a scene worthy of the pencil of a Hogarth, this 
motley collection of modern spruceness and antique fash- 



166 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

ions. There were chaises of the make of a century ago 
standing side by side with side-bar buggies, upon which the 
paint of the factory was hardly dry. 

There were fine carriage horses from the famed Blue 
Grass Region of Kentucky, hitched near spavined steeds that 
even in the best of their plebian days must have looked as if 
of doubtful pedigree. The staring members of the hu- 
man family were no less ludicrous in their comparisons. 
There were city belles and beaux, who were ruralizing at 
Peekskill, jammed in the crowd into a sort of a homo- 
geneity with native yokels, male and female, who looked as 
if they might, so far as modern styles went, have settled 
along the Hudson anterior to the celebrated nap of Rip Van 
AVinkle. 

The ofiScer's quarters are situated on a bluff above the 
noble river and here, leaning carelessly back against a giant 
oak, the Governor received the homage and congratulations 
of the eager crowd. Every one present, even to the dusky 
Dan Johnson, the village wit and philosopher, must be pre- 
sented and have a shake of the hand from the probable Pres- 
ident. To the trying ordeal — for it is no laughing matter 
to shake hands continuously for an hour or more at a 
stretch — the Governor submitted cheerfully and laughingly. 

When the turn of the old negro, Dan Johnson, came, he 
shook the cordially extended hand and pausing for a mo- 
ment looked earnestly and searchingly into the kindly face 
of Mr. Cleveland. 

"Well, Daniel," said Mr. Cleveland, "what is the mat- 
ter." 

"I is jist a considerin' der condition ob things, sah, an I 
wants ter 'splain dat I thinks you's born ter be der next 
Preserdent ob der United States, sah !" 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 167 

**You think so, do you, Daniel?" said the Governor smil- 
ingly. 

"Deed I does, sah, shore ! " replied the delighted darky. 

Glancing at the glittering uniform of Colonel Ward, who 
was standing next to him, Mr. Cleveland, with a good na- 
tured, quizzical look in his honest eyes, said "We are en- 
listed, Daniel, and we are going to fight it out." 

"Ef yer does, sah, yer is jist boun' ter win the battle, 
now mine what I done tole yer !" said the happy old ne- 
gro as he passed on. A few minutes later he was telling a 
local crowd, that had gathered around him, that he never 
felt so happy before since he first "jined der Mefodis 
church." This incident is given to show the Democratic na- 
ture of the reform Governor, to whom all seem drawn by a 
catholic kindness that beams from his very countenance. 

This impromptu reception had delayed the regular busi- 
ness of the day, and it was not until the trees were casting 
long shadows and most of the Peekskill maidens had shut 
down their parasols and were using them for canes, that the 
encampment band walked out with their instruments under 
their arms. Two minutes of music followed and then came 
the bugle call to fall in for dress parade and review. Oat 
of the camp streets came the marching companies. Capt. 
Rennier headed his Utica warriors; Kirby led the soldiers 
of Canandaigua; Lieut. Scott guided the boys from Water- 
town, and Sam. Foster had his eye on the pride of Troy. 
Joe Dickie swung his New^burg braves into line, followed 
by Andy Budlong's Mohawk men in blue, and Bariiie with 
the hope and glory of Malone keeping step to the music. 
The men were turned out 700 strong and looked as brave 
and gallant as good soldiers only can look who have had a 



168 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

good sleep on a warm summer afternoon and know they are 
going home to-morrow. 

They have not all as yet got the regular State uni- 
forms. Some of them wore bhie pantaloons and some 
grey, but all were alike in point of neatness and precision. 

The men formed on a square and were reviewed by the 
Governor. He stood under a tree on the right and kept 
his eyes steadily fixed on the men. When the review was 
over he declared that he had never before passed a pleasanter 
fifteen minutes than in watching the future defenders of the 
country. 

There was hardly room for the two bay horses to drag 
the carriage down to Roa Hook in time for the 7.15 train. 
Along the hills ladies waved their handkerchiefs and threw 
him smiles from green bowers along the road. Laborers 
and farmers lifted their hats to him and shouted with a 
loyal will "for Gov. Cleveland." The yokels of the morn- 
ing had added hundreds to their numbers in the afternoon, 
and although it is a sad thing to say, the two pretty nieces 
were shadowed by the portly form of the Governor. When 
he stepped into the train a cheer that shook the woods was 
heard, and when the engine jumped forward there was 
another and another yet until the bobbins: red lio:ht on the 
rear car swung around a turn in the road. 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 169 



CHAPTER XXIT. 



GOVERNOR Cleveland's experience. 



WASHINGTON'S WANT OF EXPERIENCE. CLEVELAND'S FITNESS FOR 

THE PRESIDENCY. DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT. QUALIFICA- 
TIONS REQUIRED. JUDGE AND EXECUTOR. LAWYER, MAYOR 

AND GOVERNOR. A DIFFICULT OFFICE TO FILL ACCEPTABLY. 

REPUBLICAN TESTIMONY IN FAVOR OF CLEVELAND. THE NEW 

YORK HERALD. BLAINE-LOGAN STAR-ROUTERS. THE JAY 

GOULD TICKET. EVIL ELEMENTS. THE NEW YORK TIMES. 

A TRIBUTE TO CLEVELAND. WHAT HE HAS ALREADY ACCOM- 
PLISHED. HARPER'S WEEKLY. ABSOLUTE OFFICIAL INTEG- 
RITY. PASSPORT TO CONFIDENCE. A FIRM, CLEAN AND IN- 
DEPENDENT OFFICER. DEVOTION TO DUTY, THE COUNTRY'S 

DEMAND FOR AN HONEST CANDIDATE. OTHER REPUBLICAN IN- 
SURGENTS. TRUE SOLUTION OF ACTION. FEARLESS VOTERS. 

OPPOSITION TO DEMAGOGUES. 

Amongst other things alleged against Mr. Cleveland by 
some of his detractors, is a want of experience. Such an 
objection is not only silly, bat false, unless it applies to his 
want of experience as President of the United States. If 
this is the want of experience meant, it is one that was com- 
mon to Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe, when 
they went into the office for their first therms. If it applies 
to his want of the experience that fits a man for the judi- 
cious exercise of the Presidential powers, it is unqualifiedly 
false. 

Certainly for twenty-five years no man has taken the 
Presidential chair, who, from the nature of his previous du- 
ties and occupations, was as well fitted as Grover Cleveland 
to properly fill it. It must be remembered that the Presi- 
dency is merely the chief executive office of the United 
States, and that a sound, cool judgment and strict integrity 



170 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

alone are needed to fill it creditably. The President orig- 
inates no bills, nor measures; he shapes no national legisla- 
tion; he dictates no foreign policy; in short, he is but the 
judge and executor of the will of the people as expressed in 
Congress by their Representatives and Senators. 

If called upon to decide what powers of mind were most 
necessary in this ofiice, there is not a jurist nor statesman in 
the land who would not say that calmness of judgment, 
firmness of action and unimpeachable integrity are the three 
great requisites. This being the case, where can they be 
found in stronger combination than in Grover Cleveland? 
What man of our day — Samuel J. Tilden not excepted — 
has displayed them in a more marked degree? 

The experience of Mr. Cleveland, also, is all in his favor. 
First, we have his study of the law, absolutely necessary to 
all statecraft, then his services as chief executive officer of 
Buffalo, and finally in the more difiicult role of chief execu- 
tive of the State of New York. Of his last ofiice a dis- 
tinguished Republican politician has put it upon record as 
'*the most difficult office in the United States to fill with 
credit and anything like general acceptance. It is cursed 
with savage party factions to be conciliated, with a bitterly 
hostile opposition, and subjected to the daily criticisms of 
the ablest and most intelligent press in the world." 

Whether Mr. Cleveland filled this post to the satisfaction 
of friends and foes we need go no further than the leading 
Republican and Independent papers to ascertain. The 
<'New York Herald" says: 

**It is a natural consequence that the ticket nominated by 
the efforts and money of unpunished Star Routers should 
gather to itself the support of the Jay Goulds, the specula- 
tors and gamblers on the one side, and on the other of fili- 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 171 

busters, dynamiters, contractors and adventurers of all 
kinds. It is upon the support of these classes that the 
Blain-Logan men openly count for success. It is these 
they openly court, believing that with their votes they 
can override the moral and patriotic sentiment of the 
country. The Democrats have nominated good men upon 
a good platform. It deserves the support of all honest citi- 
zens, regardless of old party affiliations. The men who have 
seized control of the Republican organization are not true 
Republicans. They would be disowned with contempt and 
horror by the founders of that party — by the Lincolns, 
Se wards, Chases, Sumners and Wades. They are rejected 
by honorable Republicans all over the land. To vote for 
Grover Cleveland is to vote against the worst conspiracy of 
corrupt and evil elements this country has ever heard ap- 
pealing for votes to give it control of the Treasury and 
the opportunity to misgovern." 

The ''New York Times" has the following editorial: 
**The advance of Grover Cleveland of Buffalo in the last 
three years to his present conspicuous place before the 
country, has been due solely to the unswerving fidelity of 
the man to a high sense of duty in public position, A suc- 
cessful lawyer and a respected citizen, who had held such 
positions as Assistant District Attorney and Sheriff of his 
county acceptably, he was made a candidate for Mayor of 
Buffalo at a time when a man was wanted for the place 
whose name alone would mean reform — a man of such un- 
questioned ability, such undoubted integrity, and such un- 
impeachable independence and courage that his election 
could mean nothing but reform. The result justified the 
selection, not only in success at the polls, but in the spirit 
of the administration which followed. The same qualities 



172 LIFE AXD PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

and their practical illustration in the Buffalo mayoralty led 
to Mr. Cleveland's nomination for Governor of the State 
without any seeking of his own, and the same popular con- 
fidence elicited by such qualities was displayed in the State 
canvass of 1882. In the office of Governor of the largest 
and richest State of the Union, Mr. Cleveland has risen to 
the full measure of its requirements in administrative capac- 
ity, and has maintained, under the full pressure of partisan 
schemers and self-seekers — the strongest, perhaps, any- 
where exerted in the country — his exalted views of public 
duties, his integrity of action, and his unflinching indepen- 
dence and courage. This it is that has attracted so many 
eyes to him at this juncture as the fittest man for the presi- 
dency, although he has never taken a conspicuous part in 
party councils and has never been associated with official 
life at the Capitol of the Union. 

*'It was the year 1881 that brought Mr. Cleveland into his 
first public prominence of special importance. Buffalo had 
been badly ruled by a ring of Republican politicians, and 
the conscience of the party had revolted against it, when 
the Democrats, conscious of the fine reputation Mr. Cleve- 
land enjoyed for uprightness of character, and seeing their 
opportunity, called him out from his retirement from poli- 
tics to be their candidate for Mayor of the city. Buffalo 
is usually Republican by from 2,000 to 5,000 majority, and 
Mr. Cleveland's election on the Democratic ticket by a ma- 
jority of 5,000 was simply a tribute to his personal popular- 
ity and personal integrity, above all to his personal integ- 
rity. His conduct in office merely strengthened the firm 
hold he had on the confidence of the public of Buffalo. He 
put his veto foot squarely upon all jobs that came in his 
way, whether they originated among Democrats in the 



GROVE R CLEVELAND. 173 

board of aldermen or among Republicans. His reputation 
for these acts soon spread beyond the borders of Buffalo, 
and in September, 1882, he was nominated by the Demo- 
crats for Governor of New York, to be elected in November 
by the phenomenal majority that has been roughly put at 
200,000. 

"Mr. Cleveland went to Albany just before the beginning 
of 1883 to assume the office of Governor in the most quiet 
and unostentatious manner. On the day of his inaugura- 
tion, he walked to the Capitol and avoided all appearance of 
parade. His address evinced a deep sense of the responsi- 
bility which had come upon him, and a distrust of his ability 
to meet it fully, coupled with an evident determination to 
do his best. He was obliged at once to address the Legisla- 
ture and to face the requirements of its action. One of 
his first acts was to appoint the railroad commissioners pro- 
vided for by the law passed the year before. The admira- 
ble character of his selections showed his judgment of men 
and of their fitness for special duties. The same character- 
istic was displayed, as well as a conscientious disregard of 
mere partisan considerations in the important appointments 
which came later in the session. In naming Mr. Shanahan 
as superintendent of public works, Mr. Perry as commis- 
sioner of the new Capitol and Mr. Andrews as superintend- 
ent of the Capitol building, he disregarded political influ- 
ence and looked to fitness alone. In advancing Assistant 
Superintendent McCall to the head of the insurance depart- 
ment, he exemplified the principle of civil service reform, 
to which he was fully committed. In his letter of accept- 
ance he had said : 

"Subordinates in public place should be selected and 
retained for their efficiency and not because they may be 



174 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

used to accomplish partisan ends. The people have a right 
to demand here, as in cases of private employment, that 
their money be paid to those who will render the best service 
in return, and that the appointment to and tenure of such 
places should depend upon ability and merit. If the clerks 
and assistants in public departments were paid the same 
compensation and required to do the same amount of work 
as those employed in prudently conducted private establish- 
ments, the anxiety to hold these public places would be much 
diminished and the cause of civil service reform materially 
aided. The expenditure of money to influence the action 
of the people at the polls or to secure legislation is calcu- 
lated to excite the gravest concern. When this pernicious 
agency is successfully employed a representative form of 
government becomes a sham, and laws passed under its bane- 
ful influence cease to protect, but are made the means by 
which the rights of the people are sacrificed and the public 
treasury despoiled. It is useless and foolish to shut our 
eyes to the fact that this evil exists among us, and the party 
which leads in an honest effort to return to better and purer 
methods, will receive the confidence of our citizens and 
secure their support. It is wilful blindness not to see that 
the people care but little for party obligations when they 
are invoked to countenance and sustain fraudulent and cor- 
rupt practices. And it is well for our country and for the 
purification of politics that the people, at times fully roused 
to danger, remind their leaders that party methods should 
be something more than a means used to answer the pur- 
poses of those who profit by political occupation. 

*'He not only acted in conformity with those sentiments in 
making appointments, but promptly approved the civil ser- 
vice reform bill which public sentiment and the persistency 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 175 

of an earnest minority compelled the Legislature to pass, 
following it at once with a most admirable appointment of 
commissioners. He has aided and sustained the commission 
at all points in a most resolute and honest manner. 

*'Harper's Weekly," one of the most influential political 
agents in the United States, says in a calm, dispassioned 
view of the situation: 

''The nomination of Governor Cleveland defines sharply 
the actual issue of the Presidential election of this year. 
He is a man whose absolute official integrity has never been 
questioned, who has no laborious and doubtful explanations 
to undertake, and who is universally known as the Governor 
of New York, elected by an unprecedented majority which 
was not partisan, and represented both the votes and the 
consent of an enormous body of Republicans, and who, as 
the Chief Executive of the State, has steadily withstood the 
blandishments and the threats of the worst elements of his 
party, and has justly earned the reputation of a courageous, 
independent, and efficient friend and promoter of adminis- 
trative reform. His name has become that of the especial 
representative among our public men of the integrity, pu- 
rity and economy of administration, which are the objects 
of the most intelligent and patriotic citizens. The bitter 
and furious hostility of Tammany Hall and of General 
Butler to Governor Cleveland is his passport to the con- 
fidence of good men, and the general conviction that Tam- 
many will do all that it can to defeat him will be an ad- 
ditional incentive to the voters who cannot support Mr. 
Blaine, and who are unwilling not to vote at all, to secure 
the election of a candidate whom the political rings and the 
party traders instinctively hate and unitedly oppose." 



176 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

**So firm and clean and independent in his high office 
has Governor Cleveland shown himself to be, that he is de- 
nounced as not being a Democrat, by his Democratic oppo- 
nents. This denunciation springs from the fact that he has 
not hesitated to prefer the public welfare to the mere inter- 
est of his party. Last autumn, when the Democratic Dis- 
trict Attorney of Queens County was charged with miscon- 
duct, the Governor heard the accusation and the defense, 
and decided that it was his duty to remove the officer. He 
was asked by his party friends to defer the removal until 
after the election, as otherwise the party would lose the dis- 
trict by the opposition of the attorney's friends. The Gov- 
ernor understood his duty, and removed the officer some 
days before the election, and the party did lose the district. 
This kind of courage and devotion to public duty in the teeth 
of the most virulent opposition of traders of his own party is 
unusual in any public man, and it shows precisely the execu- 
tive quality which is demanded at a time when every form of 
speculation and fraud presses upon the public Treasury un- 
der the specious plea of party advantage. 

"The argument that in an election it is not a man but a 
party that is supported, and that the Democratic party is 
less to be trusted than the Republican, is futile at a time 
when the Republican party has nominated a candidate whom 
a great body of the most conscientious Republicans cannot 
support, and the Democratic party has nominated a candi- 
date whom a great body of the most venal Democrats practi- 
cally bolt. Distrust of the Democratic party springs from the 
conduct of the very Democrats who madly oppose Governor 
Cleveland because they know that they cannot use him. 
The mere party argument is vain also because no honorable 
man will be whipped in to vote for a candidate whom he be- 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 177 

lieves to be personally disqualified for the Presidency on the 
ground that a party ought to be sustained. No honest Re- 
publican would sustain his party for such a reason, and the 
honest Republicans who propose to vote for Mr. Blaine will 
do so because they do not believe, as the protesting Repub-^ 
licans do believe, that he made his official action sub- 
serve a personal advantage. Nothnig is more hopeless than 
an attempt to persuade such Republicans to sustain their 
party by voting for &n unworthy candidate. Should they 
help to reward such a candidate by conferring upon him the 
highest official honor in the world, they could not reasona- 
bly expect the nomination of a worthier candidate at the 
next election, and they could not consistently oppose the 
election of any candidate whom their party might select. 
The time to defeat unfit nominations is when they are made, 
not next time. The nomination of Governor Cleveland is due 
not so much to the preference of his party as to the general 
demand of the country for a candidacy which stands for 
precisely the qualities and services which are associated with 
his name. 

Hundreds of similar extracts from the **New York Evening 
Post," "The Boston Advertiser," "The Boston Transcript," 
"The Chicago Tribune," "The Independent," "The Chris- 
tian Union," "The Congregationalist" and other ably ed- 
ited and widely influential Republican papers might be 
given. To say that this is mere editorial opinion is to say 
that the editors and publishers of these papers are fools, 
for what paper would dare to gratify the personal feelings 
of its editor at the expense of its advertising patronage and 
its subscription list^ 

The better and by far the truest way to account for this 
defection is to observe the .dissatisfaction of the thinking: 



178 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

and reading masses of the Republican party, the honest and 
patriotic minority (in numbers, but majority in intelligence) 
who believe in the country first and party afterward and 
who will not be made the tool of such demagogues and cor- 
ruptionists as were placed on their ticket by the strikers 
and henchmen who engineer nominations at the expense of 
the honest voters of the party. 

These men, though sturdy Republicans and having only 
the good of their party and the country at heart, have de- 
termined to flock to the standard of those who, while party 
enemies, are also the enemies of fraud and corruption. 
They have not deserted their party or its true principles, 
but have turned their backs upon its infamy and corruption. 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 179 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE I^L\.NTLE OF TILDEN. 



WITHOUT FEAR AND WITHOUT REPROACH. ROLD YET CAREFUL.- 

NOT A POLICY MAN. AN ANGLICISED AMERICAN MINISTER. - 



HIS ABANDONMENT OF AMERICAN CITIZENS. AN INDIGNATION 

MEETING. MR. CLEVELAND PRESIDES. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 

MUST BE PROTECTED. FOREIGN BORN CITIZENS. FUNDA- 
MENTAL LAWS. AN UNDAUNTED APOSTLE. STATESMANLIKE 

VIEWS. A MAN INDEED. MR. CLEVELAND AND TAMMANY. 

THE KELLY LETTER. A BRACE OF UNSCRUPULOUS CHARACTERS. 

HAMPERED BY GRADY. IMMACULATELY HONEST. IN SYM- 
PATHY WITH REFORMS. CAREFIL STUDY. MR. CLEVELAND'S 

DEMOCRATIC HABITS. GENIAL AND APPROACHABLE. 

Upon the shoulders of Grover Cleveland fell the mantle 
of Samuel J. Tilden, and it could have descended to no wor- 
thier follower. Mr. Tilden had no more worthily filled the 
gubernatorial office of the Empire State than has Mr. 
Cleveland. He encountered no more active nor unscrupu- 
lous enemies, nor was his courafre more unflinchinir. His 
efforts for honesty and reform were no more constant nor 
successful than have been those of the reform Mayor of Buf- 
falo. In their incorruptibility the two men have been noble 
parallels, the grandest of modern politics. 

Doubtful in nothing, Mr. Cleveland has boldly put him- 
self on record upon all of the great questions of the day. 
Having nothing to palliate or defend he has not hesitated 
to speak out honestly and independently. No reasons of 
policy have ever been sufficiently powerful with him to cause 
him to do an unjust act, or to utter a hypocritical word. 
If he thought a thing was right, he did it or said it with- 
out other consideration than its justice. 



180 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

When our anglicised minister to England, Mr. Lowell, 
with the true subserviency that characterizes his party in all 
its foreign policy, had abandoned the American citizens im- 
prisoned in Ireland without formal accusation, trial or con- 
viction, public indignation led to the calling of mass meetings 
to protest against his cowardly, truckling course. At one 
held in Buffalo April 9th, 1882, Mr. Cleveland, the newly 
elected Mayor, presided. On taking the chair he delivered 
the following address, which is certainly as frank and out- 
spoken an utterance in regard to the duties of the Ameri- 
can Government to its citizens abroad as any one need ask 
for: 

'*Felloav Citizens — This is the formal mode of address 
on occasions of this kind, but I think w^e seldom realize 
fully its meaning or how valuable a thing it is to be a 
citizen. From the earliest civilization to be a citizen 
has been to be a free man, endowed with certain privi- 
leges and advantages and entitled to the full protection 
of the State. The defense and protection of personal 
rights of its citizens has always been the paramount and 
most important duty of a free, enlightened government. 
And perhaps no government has this sacred trust more 
in its keeping than this — the best and freest of them 
all — for here the people who are to be protected are 
the source of those powers which they delegate upon the 
express compact that the citizen shall be protected. For 
this purpose we choose those who for the time being shall 
manage the machinery which we have set up for our defense 
and safety. 

*'And this protection adheres to us in all lands and places 
as an incident of citizenship. Let but the weight of a sac- 
religious hand be put upon this sacred thing and a great, 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 181 

strong government springs to its feet to avenge the wrong. 
Thus it is that the native-born American citizen enjoys his 
birthrights. But when, in the westward march of empire, 
this nation was founded and took root, we beckoned to the 
Old World and invited hither its immigration and provided 
a mode by which those who sougiit a home among us might 
become our fellow-citizens. They came by thousands and 
hundreds of thousands ; they came and 

'Hewed the dark old woods away, 
And gave the virgia liekls to day;' 

they came with strong sinews and brawny arms to aid in the 
growth and progress of a new country; they came and up- 
on our alters laid their fealty and submission; they came to 
ourtemples of justice and under the solemnity of an oath re- 
nounced all allegiance to every other State, potentate and 
sovereignty, and surrendered to us all the duty pertaining to 
such allegiance. We have accepted their fealty and invited 
them to surrender the protection of their native land. 

"And what should be given them in return? Manifestly, 
good faith and every dictate of honor demands that we give 
them the same liberty and protection here and elsewhere 
which we vouchsafe to our native-born citizens. And that 
this has been accorded to them is the crowning glory of 
American institutions. It needed not the statute, which is 
now the law of the land, declaring that 'all naturalized citi- 
zens while in foreign lands are entitled to and shall receive 
from this government the same protection of person and 
property wiiich is accorded to native-born citizens,' to voice 
the policy of our nation. 

"In all lands where the semblance of liberty is preserved, 
the right of a person arrested, to a speedy accusation and 



182 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

trial is, or ought to be, a fundamental law as it is a rule of 
civilization. At any rate, we hold it to be so, and this is 
one of the rights which we undertake to guarantee to any 
native-born or naturalized citizen of ours, whether he be 
imprisoned by order of the Czar of Russia or under the 
pretext of a law administered for the benefit of the landed 
aristocracy of England. We do not claim to make laws for 
other foreign countries, but we do insist that whatsoever 
those laws may be, they shall, in the interests of human 
freedom and the rights of mankind, so far as they involve 
the liberty of our citizens, be speedily administered. We 
have a right to say, and do say, that mere suspicion without 
examination on trial is not sufficient to justify the long im- 
prisonment of a citizen of America. Other nations may 
permit their citizens to be thus imprisoned. Ours will not. 
And this in effect has been solemnly declared by statute. 

"We have met here to-night to consider this subject and 
inquire into the cause and the reasons and the justice of the 
imprisonment of certain of our fellow-citizens now held in 
British prisons without the semblance of a trial or legal ex- 
amination. Our law declares that the government shall 
act in such cases. But the people are the creators of the 
government. The undaunted apostle of the Christian reli- 
gion, imprisoned and persecuted, api)ealing centuries ago 
to the Roman law and the rights of Roman citizenship, 
boldly demanded: *Is it lawful for you to scourge a man 
that is a Roman and uncondemned?' So, too, might we ask, 
appealing to the law of our land and the laws of civiliza- 
tion: 'Is it lawful that these, our fellows, be imprisoned, 
who are American citizens and uncondemned?' I deem it 
an honor to be called upon to preside at such a meeting and 
I thank you for it. What is your further pleasure?" 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 183 

These are statesman-like views, expressed in a dignified 
and decided manner. In his carefully worded utterances 
there are no glittering generalities, no blatant demagogism. 
Everywhere we see the cool head of the lawyer and the 
statesman, and the warm heart of the true American citizen 
that cannot bow to prestige and to power. The man who 
speaks in such a strain as this may be relied on to accom- 
plish what he says, for words w^ith him are not mere empty 
sounds that have no weight, nor meaning, and are but used 
to conceal rather than display thought and purpose. 

At the close of the session of 1883 Mr. Cleveland came 
for the first time in direct collision with the power of Tam- 
many. He had made a number of appointments, chiefly 
affecting New York city, among them commissioner of em- 
igration, quarantine commissioners and harbor-masters. 
These were not pleasing to Tammany, and were attacked, 
especially by Senator Grady. The Governor sent a com- 
munication to the Senateurging the importance of disposing 
of these appointments before the session closed, and reflect- 
ing indirectly upon the motive of the opposition. This 
drew from Grady a bitter tirade against the Governor, and 
the Legislature adjourned without a confirmation of the ap- 
pointments. As the political canvass of last year came on, 
Gov. Cleveland wrote a personal letter to John Kelley, con- 
veying to the Tammany *'boss" his wish that Grady should 
not be sent again to the Senate, recognizing the unquestion- 
able fact that Kelley was the dispenser of nominations in 
Tammany hall, and placing his objections not only on the 
ground of his own comfort, but of the public interest. 
These incidents sufficiently indicate the occasion of Tam- 
many's hostility to the Governor and of Grady's special 
hatred for him. 



184 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

This was the famous letter of which so much has been 
said; it is the mole-hill out of which a mountain has been 
sought to be made. It was a private letter, written in con- 
fidence to Mr. Kelly, who had answered him that he was 
and ever would be his earnest supporter in all measures of 
political reform. An honorable man himself. Governor 
Cleveland gave credence to the most disgustingly dishonest 
and unscrupulous demagogue that ever infested and polluted 
American poitics — Ben Butler not even excepted — and in a 
friendly spirit wrote to him that he was hampered and 
hindered by Mr. Grady, whom in the interests of honesty 
and reform he did not wish returned to the Senate. There 
ivas nothing in the letter that the world might not have 
seen, and its whole tenor was immaculately honest and could 
injure no one, save the disreputable creatures whc sought 
to make capital out of it. 

During the late session of the Legislature the Governor's 
attitude throughout was one of sympathy and support for 
the effort to reform the methods of municipal administra- 
tion in that city and to extend the operation of the State 
civil service laws. It was known from the start that he was 
in sympathy with the work in which Senators Gibbs and 
Robb and Assemblyman Roosevelt and others took a leading 
part, though the opposition to it was chiefly in his own 
party. He made valuable suggestions, met everyone with 
frankness, and gave his approval without hesitation to all 
the reform bills that were placed before him in reasonably 
perfect shape or in time to have defects remedied. He 
continued the practice of studying every measure carefully 
and disapproving, without thinking of personal or political 
effect, those which, in his judgment, ought not to become 
laws. He scrutinized appropriations with special care, and 



GROVER CLEVELANDo 185 

his excision of items from the supply bills showed his dis- 
criminating economy and his relentless keenness in scenting 
out jobs. Mr. Cleveland's character as Governor has been 
one of unremitting hard work and faithful devotion to pub- 
lic duty. He has shirked nothing, proved unequal to no re- 
quirement, and never lost sight of the rule of action which 
he laid down as Mayor of Buffalo in a communication to 
the Common Council with the contents of which the reader 
is already familiar. No man has exhibited less of ostenta- 
tion, has been so democratic in his modes and habits as 
Governor Cleveland. Many a village post-master and the 
bulk of the most trivial officials of the various Custom 
Houses throughout the country are more difficult of ap- 
proach and less genial of manner than New York's Demo- 
cratic Governor. 



186 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE FUTURE OF AMERICA. 



SWEEPING REFORMS NEEDED, THE BREWSTERS AND BLISSES.- 



TIIE ROBESONS AND CHANDLERS. NAVAL JOBS. A PHANTOM 

NAVY. A DISMAL. PROSPECT. A DEMOCRATIC NAVY OR 

NONE. "FOR THE HEATHEN." AN APT ILLUSTRATION. 

TONS OF GOLD SQUANDERED. A PROTECTING PARTY. A PERTI- 
NENT QUESTION. COMPARATIVE STATISTICS. A VANISHED 

MERCHANT MARINE. PROTECTING AMERICAN LABOR. MONOP- 
OLY VERSUS LABOR. A REPUBLICAN BUGABOO. COL. HIG- 

GINSON'S speech. A REPUBLICAN ESTIMATE OF DEMOCRACY. 

ITS HONEST CANDIDATES. THE NAME OF CLEVELAND.- 

A NOBLE STANDARD BEARER. DEATHLESS DEMOCRATIC LAURELS. 

AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP. A PROUD TITLE. 

Should Mr. Cleveland be elected President of the United 
States in November, does anyone believe that the thievery, 
which characterizes all of the departments of the Govern- 
ment to-day, would be allowed to continue? Would hun- 
dreds of thousands of dollars be given to the Brewsters 
and Blisses to delay and defeat justice? Even could a 
Democratic official or Congressman descend to robbery in 
office, does anyone, who has noticed the course of the 
Mayor of Buffalo and Governor of New York, believe that 
he would be shielded from prosecution? 

Does anyone believe that under his administration the 
naval jobbery of the Robesons and Chandlers could continue 
for a single day ? In this connection let us look at a few 
of the figures which mathematicians say cannot lie. In 
order to give a job to some of his creatures the Secretary 
ordered the breaking up of the Connecticut and Canandai- 
gua, two vessels that had outlived their usefulness — if they 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 187 

ever had any. The cost of breaking up the Connecticut 
was $18,743; the estimated value of the material secured 
$13,000, a loss of nearly $5,000. 

To break up the Canandaigua cost $9,200, and the es- 
timated value of her material is only $0,700; causing the 
Government a loss of $7,500 to get rid of the two ves- 
sels. Suppose they had been given away, the Government 
would have been $7,500 the richer. Had they been towed 
out to sea and sunk, that would have cost but a trifle for 
the towing; or better still, they might have been taken out 
of the course of mercantile vessels and with anchor apeak, 
all sails set, ensign flying and helm lashed fast, turned 
adrift to . roam the ocean, the phantom of what, under 
Democratic rule, had been a gallant navy, breasting the 
foaming billows of every sea and inspiring the nations of 
the earth with respect and admiration for the starry banner 
that made their decks the hallowed ground of freedom. 

This is but one instance of Republican want of capacity 
in everything pertaining to naval matters. For twenty- 
three years having control of the government and spending 
hundreds of millions of dollars upon the navy, they have 
to-day not a single first-class vessel. Give them control for 
fifty, five hundred, a thousand years and at the end of that 
time w^e should find a navy able to cope only with that of 
Liberia, the Sandwich Islands, or some of the nations of 
Central Africa. 

To have a navy we must put the Democrats in power, 
and there may come again the good old days of Perry, In- 
graham and Tatnall, but under Republican rule we shall 
never see it. A gentleman once wrapped a copper cent in 
a dollar bill and dropped it into a contribution box, which 
was labelled, *' For The Heathen." Being asked the cause 



188 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

of his action he replied **The cent, you know, is for the 
heathen, the dolhir is to get it to them." In naval affairs 
the cent well represents the amount that goes to our navy, 
while the dollar is the percentage that sticks to the hands of 
the Secretaries, the Roaches and other pet contractors. 

Does anyone believe that, under the administration of 
such Democrats as Mr. Cleveland, over $700,000,000 would 
be spent for the navy in twenty-two years, without more to 
show for it than we have now? Just think of 21,875 tons of 
gold — 43,750,000 pounds of the precious metal — expended 
for a navy that does not begin to compare with that of Italy 
or Spain. Were it not for the infamy and disgrace of the 
thing it would be ludicrous to think of the millions of 
pounds of gold which the few fifth-rate hulks of the Ameri- 
can navy represent. Supposing a skilled laborer to make 
$4 per day, this represents the day's labor of 175,000,000 
mechanics. 

Is it not about time for a return to the simpler and more 
honest methods of Democratic rule? Let American "sus- 
pects," rotting in foreign prisons, or American citizens, 
serving out a term of conscription in foreign armies, be 
called upon to answer these questions. How earnestly they 
would pray for the restoration of the party that alone has 
the courage, the desire and the ability to protect them. A 
twenty-three years trial of the Republican party has demon- 
strated its inability or want of desire to make American citi- 
zenship feared or respected abroad. 

*'But are we to expect this honesty and fearlessness in the 
Democratic party?" some may ask. AA^e can only judge 
the future by the past and the past of the grand old party is 
an open book, w^hcre he who runs may read. Prior to 1861 
what nation on earth dared to treat an American citizen with 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 189 

contumely ? And yet the Democrats spent on the navy but 
$9,000,000 to $12,000,000 yearly, against $14,000,000 to 
$30,000,000 that the Republicans have spent. Under Demo- 
cratic rule, the navy continually increased in efficacy and 
kept pace with those of European nations. Under Repub- 
lican rule the navy has steadily deteriorated, and to-day 
it is but a mere pretence. 

Where now is the vast merchant marine of Democratic 
days? Gone, protected out of existence by a beneficient 
high tariff enacted by the Republican party for the benefit 
of a few such creatures as Roach. And what is their high 
tariff protection but special legislation, oppressing the many 
for the benefit of the few? Carpenters are not protected; 
blacksmiths are not protected; brick-makers are not pro- 
tected; cabinet-makers are not protected; shoemakers, tail- 
ors, seamstresses, plasterers, farmers, farm-laborers, hod- 
carriers, teamsters and common laborers are not protected. 
These and other classes of unprotected workers in the West 
constitute nine-tenths of the whole laboring population — and 
they are not only not protected, but are taxed on the cloth- 
ing they wear, the houses they live in, the sugar and salt 
they eat and the tools they work with for the benefit of the 
selected few who are protected. 

The protected labor is that which is employed in 
large factories, furnaces, mills and lumbering establish- 
ments — and these are found chiefly in the East. The mil- 
lion laborers engaged in raising cotton are not protected 
in their business, but they are taxed on the iron ties 
with which their cotton bales are bound. The half mil- 
lion persons engaged in breeding and feeding cattle and 
dairying are not protected, but they are taxed on the salt 
they so largely use in their business. The several million 



190 LIFE AND PUBLIC SEKVICES OF 

persons engaged in raising grain and grass are not pro- 
tected, but they are taxed on every article of clothing they 
buy, for the benefit of others. 

The Republican pretence of protecting American labor 
by means of high duties on imported goods is, therefore, a 
humbug and fraud. Their system protects certain kinds of 
labor, but at the expense of all other kinds. It taxes five 
farm-workers in the West for the benefit of one iron-worker 
in the East. It taxes every carpenter in the country for 
the benefit of the saw-mill laborer in Michigan — every 
blacksmith in the land for the benefit of the steel manufac- 
turer in Pennsylvania; every day-laborer who wears an 
undershirt for the benefit of the knit goods manufacturer in 
New England, and every stove -moulder for the benefit of 
the iron-monger in Pennsylvania. The system is the very 
reverse of protection to American labor. It is taxation of 
the mass of American labor for the advantage of the man- 
ufacturing capitalists who employ one-tenth of it. 

Not that a Democratic administration could afford to be 
violently revolutionary and at once do away with the tariff. 
This would not be fair to those who have been led to invest 
large capital in various protected enterprises, but the re- 
duction, though gradual, would be sure — millions of dollars 
would thus be yearly diverted from the treasure chests of 
vast monopolies and would flow into the pockets of Ameri- 
can laborers. 

The attempts of Republican demagogues to frighten the 
masses of the people with the cry that the Democratic 
party is not safe are too silly to require denial, still, an ex- 
tract from the speech of Col. T. W. Higginson, at a Bos- 
ton Republican meeting, may not be amiss. He says: 

**I am not afraid that the Democratic party, which, with 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 191 

all its faults, has at least had common-sense enough for this ; 
that it has not for years back, ever since the war, at least, 
nominated for President any man who was not at the time, 
at least, supposed to be of unstained character — I am not 
afraid that that Democratic party has so utterly lost its head 
that it is going to make a fool of itself now. When it 
nominated McClclhm, or Greely, or Hancock we voted against 
them on their politics. We objected to their position. Who 
threw a stone at the integrity and manhood of the men? 
Tiklen himself was nominated by them, and, as they think, 
elected — was nominated on his record as Governor of New 
York. He was nominated as representing the reform ele- 
ment of the party. And the party that can train governors 
by teaching them to reform New York, and then promote 
them for the nominatk)n for President, why, such a party is 
not one for us to shrink from, whether that Governor's name 
be Tilden of the past, or Cleveland in the present." 

He was right — the very name of Cleveland carries with it 
an assurance of honesty and reform. He needs no pane- 
gyric of words, his faithful service to his fellow citizens is the 
grandest encomium to which any statesman of modern days 
can point. True to every trust, competent for any position, 
simple and unpretending as a man, grand and incorruptible 
as an official, the Democratic party has ennobled itself and 
added a fresh luster to its deathless laurels by selecting as 
its standard bearer Grover Cleveland, the lawyer, the states- 
man, the patriot and the reformer. 

With him at the helm, how can the grand old ship of 
State go wrong? Filled with national wealth beyond the 
widest dream of philosopher or economist, her sails swelled 
wi h the breezes of popularity and peace, her course over 



192 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

the storm less seas of honesty and reform, America shaP 
take her proper position amongst the nations, her sphere 
exalted and her citizenship a prouder title than that of 
ancient Rome. 

Such language as this is the most convincing proof we 
can have of the stability of our institutions founded upon 
and controlled by the votes of freemen. As long as there 
exists in the minds of our citizens this independence of par- 
tisanship, when partisanship degenerates into fraud and 
crime, so long the Republic is safe from anarchy and 
overthrow. 




J:<< 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 195 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THOMAS A. HENDRICKS — HIS BIRTH AND ANCESTRY. 



A TICKET ALL HEAD. A GRAND CONVENTION. HENDRICKS' FA- 
THER. AN ABLE MAN. A NOBLE MOTHER. HER ANCESTRY. 

A SCOTCH IMMIGRATION. WASHINGTON'S SOLDIERS. ON 

TO THE WEST. THE REMOVAL TO MADISON. WILLIAM HEN- 
DRICKS. A NOTED MAN. HIS PUBLIC SERVICES. HENDRICKS' 

HAPPY DAYS. A GRAND EXAMPLE. ''OLD HICKORY'S" AP- 
POINTMENT. A CELEBRATED MANSION. GENUINE HOSPITAL- 
ITY. A SOCIAL MECCA. SUPERIOR PEOPLE. SILENT FRIENDS. 

HOME LIFE OF HENDRICKS. FINE QUALITIES BLENDED. 

PATRIOTIC PARALLELS. SPARTAN SIMPLICITY. CONSIDERATE 

MAGNANIMITY. 

When some one, who had not yet seen the announcement 
of the Democratic nomination for Vice-President, asked a 
full blown Democrat what was the tail of the Democratic 
ticket, he replied indignantly: 

"Tail be blowed — there's no tail to it, its all head!" 
Homely as was the expression, the truth could not have 
been told in a more terse, epigrammatic manner. The De- 
mocracy, in the grandest political convention that the 
world has ever seen, named for the second place on its 
ticket Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, whose fame as a 
lawyer, a statesman and above all a patriot is world wide. 

This ideal Democrat was born on a farm near Zanesville, 
Ohio, on the 7th day of September, 1819. His father, 
John Hendricks, was born in the Ligonier Valley, West- 



19G 



LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 




THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 197 

moreland county, Pennsylvania; his father being one of the 
pioneer settlers of that section. John Hendricks was a 
man of great ability and represented his neighbors in vari- 
ous township and county offices, and also represented his 
county in the State Legislature. His tastes were simple 
and unambitious, and these offices invariably sought the man, 
not the man the office. The wife of John Hendricks, and 
mother of Thomas A. Hendricks, was a Miss Jane Thomp- 
son, a woman of great beauty and rare mental endowments. 
She was the daughter of John Thompson, a Scotchman, 
who immigrated to Pennsylvania before the war of the 
Revolution. A man of character and influence in his native 
land, he caused a large influx of his countrymen into Penn- 
sylvania by a printed address, in which he pictured to them 
the many advantages not only of climate, soil and material 
wealth, but also in the grander scope and freedom of the 
New World. Owinof to this address numbers of Scotchmen 
came to Pennsylvania, and by them the Cumberland valley 
was chiefly settled. 

These men and their descendants furnished many soldiers 
to the armies of the immortal Washington, and contributed 
their mite to the success of the American armies. Many of 
their descendants may be found in that section to this day ; 
but John Hendricks, not long after his marriage, concluded 
to try his fortunes in the farther West, and, packing his 
effects into good strong wagons, he turned his face toward 
the setting sun, and found a new location near Zanesville, 
Ohio. 

Here the family remained some time, but when the sub- 
ject of our sketch was only six months old, another removal 
— this time to Madison, Indiana, — was determined on. One 
reason for this change of location was the residence of a 



198 



LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 




HENDRICKS' HOME AT MADISON, INDIANA. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 199 

brother of John Hendricks at Madison. This brother, 
William Hendricks, was a noted man in his day and gene- 
ration, having represented his district in Congress, occupied 
the Gubernatorial chair of his State, and afterwards repre- 
sented Indiana in the United States Senate. He was a man 
of ability and intellect, and was universally esteemed for 
his integrity and sterling worth. 

On the banks of the lovely Ohio, Thomas A. Hendricks 
spent the happiest years of his life — those of his childhood 
— imbibing from his ancestors their noble ideas, as he had 
inherited from them his keen, shrewd mind and maijnificent 
constitution. In politics he made his uncle his exemplar, 
and no grander one could have been selected. Like Chev- 
alier Bayard he was truly a man without fear and without 
reproach ; one to whose skirts nothing unclean dared attach 
itself, and whose devotion to duty was unbounded. The 
world knows whether his nephew — who sat at the feet of 
this Gamaliel — profited by and perpetuated these political 
virtues. 

John Hendricks was appointed by General Andrew Jack- 
son — " Old Hickory," as his soldiers loved to call him — as 
a Deputy Surveyor of Public Lands, and in this capacity 
he served long, faithfully and well, becoming known and 
respected throughout the entire State. In 1822, with char- 
acteristic American restlessness, he made another remove, 
locating a homestead at what is now the beautiful little city 
of Shelbyville. Here he built a neat brick house, which is 
still standing, and is an object of interest to all the admirers 
of the great statesman. 

In its day, this was a grand mansion, and in addition to 
its claims as a surprisingly creditable piece of architecture 
for the backwoods of Indiana, it was noted far and wide as 



200 



LIFE AKD PUBLIC SERVICES OF 




THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 20l 

the seat of a lavish hospitality and a home where was cen- 
tered more of education and refinement than could be found 
elsewhere in the country. It soon became a Mecca, to which 
all of the citizens of the growingyoung Commonwealth, who 
aspired to education or social station, made pilgrimage. It 
has been confidently asserted that every citizen of note, at 
that date, had been entertained in this hospitable mansion. 

Everywhere the home of John Hendricks was spoken of 
as a model of taste, and its inmates as people of superior 
mental and moral endowments. Books, those speechless 
companions, that give so much and ask so little, that are ever 
ready to afford counsel, yet never obtrude themselves upon 
us, were there in abundance, and the time not given by the 
gentle mother of Thomas A. Hendricks to her children and 
her household affairs was spent in the well-stocked library. 
From her he imbibed his taste for reading, though the 
father was also somewhat of a bookworm, that has made the 
man of law a literary cosmopolite, roaming in all the bound- 
less fields of learning. 

Under this happy condition of circumstances and sur- 
roundings how could Hendricks, the boy, have ripened into 
anything save a man of culture, honor and honesty. 

"We grow like what we look on," 

says the poet, and this boy, who had never seen in boyhood 
or youth any shape of vice or iniquity within his home's do- 
main, grew to manhood's estate, serene, dignified, honor- 
able. The firm will and unconquerable courage of the 
father was softened by the calm serenity and grace of the 
mother, and the future statesman owed to this happy blending 
of the two temperaments his noble equipoise of mind, his 
undaunted courage and devotion to justice and duty. 



202 



LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES Oi 




THE MOTHER OF THOMAS A. HENDRICKS AT HOME. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICICS. 203 

In the days of Greece's glory he would have been a 
Demosthenes, without the cowardice of the latter; in Rome, 
when Roman citizenship was the grandest of earth's titles, 
he would have been a Curtius leaping full armed into the 
gaping gulf, or a Cincinnatus resigning unsought honors for 
his country's good. Not even our god-like Washington, the 
grandest man of all time, possessed more of patriotism. 
The one with Spartan simplicity could turn his back upon a 
third term of the highest honor his country offered ; the 
other, for the sake of dove-like peace and that the soil of 
his country might not be aga'in drenched with the blood of 
her sons, slain in unholy civil strife, could, without a sigh, 
submit to the infamous theft which robbed him of a similar 
honor. 



204 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OE 



CHAPTER II. 

**THE NOBLEST WORK OF GOD.' 



THE REMOVAL TO SHELBY COUNTY. OPENING A FOREST FARM. 

religion's PIONEERS. CARDINAL VIRTUES. A GENUINE HOS- 
PITALITY. INCENSE OF PRAYER.- HAPPY SURROUNDINGS. 

LASTING MORAL LESSONS. A GRAND EXEMPLAR. AN 

AMERICAN BOAST. PREJUDICED POLITICIANS. ''THE NOBLEST 

ROMAN OF THEM ALL." AN EDUCATION COMPLETED. ADOPTS 

A PROFESSION. A LONG AND ACTIVE PRACTICE. EARLY PUB- 
LIC SERVICES. FREE FROM STAIN. PURE WITHOUT AUSTERITY. 

INVOLUNTARY ADMIRATION. DR. HINTON'S ANECDOTE. 

THE TWO TOUGHS. DESERVING OF RESPECT. ADMITTED TO 

THE BAR, RAPID SUCCESS. LEARNING, ELOQUENCE AND 

ACUTENESS. STRICT HONOR AND TRUTHFULNESS. A LION'S 

WRATH. UNLUCKY SECRETARY CHANDLER. A SILLY LETTER 

WRITER. A POOR CREATURE CHASTISED. WILL KNOW BET- 
TER NEXT TIME. 

At the time of the removal of the father of Thomas A. 
Hendricks to Madison, Indiana, that was the chief city in 
the State and was the home of many of her most eminent 
men, amongst them William Hendricks an uncle of the sub- 
ject of our sketch, and whose services were described in 
our last chapter. At Madison Major Hendricks remained 
until 1822, and then occurred his removal to the sparsely 
settled county of Shelby. Here he opened up a farm in 
the virgin forest, almost in the center of the county. It was 
upon a portion of this farm that Shelby ville, the county 
town, was afterward located. • 

The house built by Major Hendricks still stands, though 
it has passed out of the possession of his family. In their 
journeyings through the wilderness, on their Master's work, 
the pioneers of religion always found a hearty welcome at 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 205 

this house where charity and tolerance were two of the cardi- 
nal virtues. Of the strictest sect of the Presbyterians, the 
hospitality of the master knew no creed, but welcomed all 
alike, whether Baptist or Methodist, saint or sinner. But 
few of the churches in that portion of the State echoed so 
often to the songs of praise and the incense of offered 
prayer as did this private dwelling. 

Growing to manhood's estate in such a home as this, 
it is not wonderful that the influence of his surroundinjrs is 
apparent in the moral texture of Thomas A. Hendricks to 
this day. One of the most brilliant of America's states- 
men, he is the grandest exemplar of all that is pure and no- 
ble in our politics. So thorough has been his self-restraint 
and so clean and pure his public and private life that of 
him might be repeated the boast of an American in France 
durino; the administration of Georo:e Washington. Beinfi: 
asked if his President was really so near perfect as repre- 
sented, he answered, "George Washington, as every one 
who knows him will concede, had none of the small vices 
and even Benedict Arnold wouldn't accuse him of any of 
the great ones." 

So amongst even the most prejudiced of the Eepublican 
politicians of to-day not a word of detraction could be heard 
concerning either the public or private morals of the patriot 
statesman, Thomas A. Hendricks. And yet, with all of his 
purity, there is nothing of austerity ; his charity for the 
faults of others is broad and catholic, save when the rights 
of the people are infringed upon, and then he is merciless. 
In his country's service he is *'the noblest Roman of them 
all" and would sacrifice upon the altar of patriotism his 
dearest friend and partisan. About him can come nothing 
that is impure or unpatriotic. 



206 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

After completing his education in 1841, at Hanover Col- 
lege — one of the earliest of the Western pioneer educational 
institutions — Mr. Hendricks began the study of law, for 
which he was peculiarly qualified, and in due time was ad- 
mittted to the bar. Thus it will be seen that the nominee 
for the Democratic Vice-Presidency is a thorough product 
of the young, hardy and vigorous civilization of the West, 
and is identified with the West in sympathy, thought and 
interest. 

Except the time he filled the ofiice of Commissioner of 
the General Land Office and the Gubernatorial chair of In- 
diana, Mr. Hendricks has been engaged in the practice of 
his profession. His course in politics has been such, that 
even had he not loved the profession of his choice, he would 
have been forced to continue its practice. Unlike the great 
majority of American politicians, his hands are clean and 
his conscience free from a single act of bribery, or corrup- 
tion. Land grabs, Indian contracts. Credit Mobiliers and 
Star Routes never dared with their unhallowed gains to ap- 
proach this incorruptible man, and his bitterest enemies can- 
not point to an act that in the slightest can compromise his 
fair, unclouded fame. 

There is a singular fact connected with this purity of 
morals of the Indiana statesman, and that is that even 
those whose vices he scourges, involuntarily admire him, 
so great is the nobility and attractiveness of absolute mor- 
ality. Dr. Hinton, a well-known citizen of Indiana tells 
this anecdote illustrative of this fact. He was passing two 
tough looking and very drunken fellows on a street corner 
in Lafayette when he overheard the following colloquy 
•shortly after the Presidential election in 1880: 



TROMAS A. HENDRICKS. 207 

* 'Hit's er shame, Bill — that's what hit is. I wouldn't er 
thought yer'd er done it, bust me if I would !" 

''Couldn't help it Gus ! bust me ef I could. Yer see 
here's how it was — hit was er durned milertary man and er 
bloated banker, and I didn't keer fur neither, but ef it had 
er been Guv'ner Hendricks on ther ticket, all the money in 
ther State wouldn't er got my vote. Im er Radical, Gus ! 
ander tough citizen, but even us toughs and thieves oughter 
have some respec fur er honest man." 

Satisfied with this eulogy of his favorite statesman, the 
Doctor hurried by and left the two friends drinking with 
Eepublican bribery money to the honesty of a man they 
could not help but admire and respect. 

The date of Mr. Hendrick's graduation was 1841, and his 
study of the law began immediately and continued earnestly 
for two years; he being admitted to practice in 1843. His 
success was very rapid and he soon earned a reputation 
second to that of no lawyer at the Indiana bar. Not only 
was he pure in morals and of the strictest integrity, but he 
was solicitous to preserve himself from even the appearance 
of evil and to keep unstained, even by suspicion, his upright 
and honorable character. In this, as the nation can testify, 
he has been successful. 

Careful in money matters, and either not possessing, or 
having entirely curbed those vicious tastes and desires that 
lead to extravagance, he slowly accumulated a modest com- 
petence, entirely by his practice. At the bar he was dis- 
tinguished by his learning, the broad scope of his informa- 
tion — which seems complete on every subject — his grand 
eloquence and the acuteness of his penetration . Courteous as 
any gentleman of the old school, and gracious as a grand 
seignor of France, woe unto the unlucky wight that called 



208 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

into question any statement he might make, or any asser- 
tion he might utter. 

Always cautious, he never announced a proposition or 
pretended to an information that he did not thoroughly 
possess, and when these were questioned he rose like an 
angry lion and turned on his foe. Luckless little Chandler, 
Secretary of the Navy, had a taste of this fury a few days 
ago when he rushed into print to deny an assertion made by 
Mr. Hendricks concerning certain peculations in that crea- 
ture's department. The answer to the letter of the Secre- 
tary — which he had, like the petty egotist that he *s, fan- 
cied conclusive — came like a stroke of lightning from an 
angry cloud; sharp, keen and deadly. It proved, from 
Chandler's own letter,that not only had the peculations been 
many, shameful and long continued, but even that Chandler 
had been cognizant of them and quiescent under, if not par- 
ticipant in them. 

That one stroke was sufficient. The letter, which little 
Chandler had fondly hoped would down the Indiana giant and 
prove an excellent campaign document for his party, had 
brought only consternation and confusion, and like the 
prairie gopher or some other small vermin he has retired 
from view as a public letter-writer and is probably busy as- 
sessing the poor clerks in his department in order to buy 
votes with which to seek a revenge upon his mighty an- 
tagonist. 

Poor little Chandler, mighty only in knavery, strong only 
in nefarious jobs, seek opponents amongst the ranks of 
the pigmies like yourself and never again dare to encounter 
the demigods ! Looked at in a serious light the epistolary 
attempt of Mr. Chandler, outside of its mendacity, is one of 
the most ludicrous happenings of the day, and his retreat 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 209 

from the wrath of Thomas A. Hendricks can only be de- 
scribed by the boy's account of the chipmunk which he 
could not catch: **The pestiferous critter went into his 
hole and drug the hole in after him." It is safe to say that 
Billy will know better next time. 

There never was a finer exemplification of the truth that 

"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." 

It was as though a puny boy should attack a full grown 
man, or a pitiful puppy essay to try conclusions with the 
*' king of beasts." 



210 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER III. 



MR. HENDRICKS ' IVIARRIAGE 



A THRIVING LAWYER. A TRUE HELPMEET. GOD'S LAST BEST GIFT 

TO MAN. A TRUE WOMAN'S AMBITION. A CONSTANT COMPAN- 
ION. APT SUGGESTIONS. JOURNEYS IN EUROPE. A NOBLE 

PAIR. THE BARD OP AVON. DEATH OP A CHILD. STRICT 

CHURCH MEMBERS. SIMPLICITY OP TASTES. GIVING IN SE- 
CRET. NOBLE CHRISTIAN CHARITY. ESPECIALLY BLESSED. 

SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OP MR. HENDRICKS. A FUND OF 

INFORMATION. MR. WOOLLEN'S ANECDOTE. A COLLEGE POEM. 

A VISIT TO THE GOVERNOR. ACHAT ABOUT POETS. ANON- 
YMOUS POEMS. THE GOVERNOR'S SCRAP-BOOKS. AN ADMI- 
RING VISITOR. ACHARMINGHOST. MR. WOOLLEN'S COMMENT. 

BRAINS AND BREEDING. COSMOPOLITAN ACQUIREMENTS. 

In 1845 Mr. Hendricks, then a thriving lawyer with a 
fine practice and a brilliant reputation, took to himself a 
wife. He married a Miss Eliza C. Morgan, one of those 
gentle and noble women who prove true helpmeets, halving 
all the sorrows of life and doubling its joys. She was such 
a one as Mrs. Barbauld aptly characters: 

"O bora to soothe distress and lighten care, 

Lively as soft, and innocent as fair! 

Blest with that sweet simplicity of thought 

So rarely found and never to be taught; — 

Of winning speech, endearing, artless, kind. 

The loveliest pattern of a female mind; 

Like some fair spirit from the realms of rest. 

With all her native heaven within her breast; 

So pure, so good, she scarce can guess at sin. 

But thinks the world without like that within; 

Such melting tenderness, so fond to bless, 

Her charity almost becomes excess. 

Wealth may be counted. Wisdom be revered. 

And Beauty prais'd, and brutal Strength be fearM, 

But Goodness only can affection move. 

And loye must owe its origin to love." 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 211 

Though truly feminine, Mrs. Hendricks is not without 
ambition, and her determination that her noble husband 
should not hide his light under a bushel has been no small 
factor in securing to the public the services of a representa- 
tive whose ability is only equalled by his purity. She is a 
woman of fine practical sense, a thorough education and has 
a mind almost masculine in its grasp and vigor. She is his 
constant companion and is an invaluable adviser. No de- 
cisive step is taken by Mr. Hendricks without consulting 
the wife that is at once 

"Companion, counsellor and friend." 

At his conferences with his political friends she is a 
familiar figure and not unf requently her apt suggestions are 
gladly received and acted upon. Her woman's wit often 
divines by its intuition, difficulties that man's slower pro- 
cess of ratiocination finds trouble in solving. In his trav- 
els she is ever his companion, having twice crossed the mad 
surges of the Atlantic in his company and journeyed with 
him through the classic scenes of Europe. In the soberer 
title of marriage the fondness of love's first awakening 
has not been submerged and they are a noble pair of 
lovers. Well might the grandest of American statesmen 
quote from his favorite bard: 

" She is mine own ! 
And I as rich in having such a jewel 
As twenty seas, if all their sands were pearls, 
Their waters nectar, and their rocks pure gold." 

They have no children — their only child, a noble boy, 
having died many years ago. Often do their hearts yearn 
for the child, and their eyes grow dim as they think of his 
bygone prattle, so sweet to parents' ears, but hand in hand 
they voyage life's stormy seas together, confident of 3/ 



212 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

meetino: with their darlino; in that briojhter and better land 
of the beyond, where death and sorrow enter not and joy 
and peace are eternal. 

Both Mr. Hendricks and his wife are strict but not fanati- 
cal members of the Episcopal Clmrch and they are the 
truest of consistent Christians. Though by no means ex- 
travagant themselves, being on the contrary distinguished 
by a democratic simplicity of tastes and desires, yet their 
generosity is unbounded and their charity universal. Not 
only do they give freely to organized charities, but no one in 
distress is ever allowed to pass them unrelieved. One who 
knows says that ** the amount of money given every year 
secretly by Governor Hendricks and his wife to deserving 
objects of charity would suffice for the support of a family 
in good circumstances.** 

All of this is done by them in the unostentatious manner 
that characterizes all of their actions. There is nothinof for 
show; no pompous ostentation of giving to be noted of 
men, but their charity is upon the true Christian principle 
of not lettincr the left hand know what the ri^rht hand has 
bestowed. Well may it be said that the surroundings of Mr. 
Hendricks have always been of the best. His father and 
mother were of the *' salt of the earth," and in his noble 
consort he has found an exceptional companion to aid and 
hold him true to the high standard of public and private 
conduct marked out by himself. 

In social life Mr. Hendricks is one of the most amiable 
and approachable of men; w^itty, genial and kindly. All 
who meet him are charmed by the rare graces and enter- 
tained by the immense fund of information of the Indiana 
statesman. No subject can be broached upon which he has 
not read widely and thoroughly, and he is equally at home 



THOMAS A. HENDKICKS. 213 

in poetry, politics, finance, political economy, philosophy, 
mechanics, or any of the other arts and sciences. A lawyer 
and a politician, he has not made of himself a legal or 
political calendar at the expense of other studies, and he is 
the most finished scholar and generally accomplished man of 
all of our statesmen. 

As an example of this we will give here an anecdote fur- 
nished us by Mr. William Wesley Woollen, of Indianapolis, 
to whom we are indebted for much and varied information 
concerning Mr. Hendricks. 

*'In 1871 a gentleman connected with the editorial staff 
of a Philadelphia paper was invited by one of the Indiana 
colleges to deliver a poem before one of the college socie- 
ties. After delivering his poem he came to Indianapolis 
and requested me to introduce him to Gov. Hendricks. At 
that time Gov. Hendricks lived south of the city a mile or 
so, in a very handsome home, and on reaching his house 
my friend and myself were received in his library by the 
Governor, very cordially. I introduced the gentleman to 
Gov. Hendricks as one connected with the Philadelphia 
press, who had been invited by Hanover College to deliver 
a poem before it. He at once entered into a conversation 
with my friend in relation to poetry, and for half an hour or 
more conversed with him almost exclusively about poetry. 
He talked with him about all the American ballads and pas- 
toral poems and went into his parlor and got two scrap 
books and turning over their pages found several poems that 
were anoymous and asked the gentleman who the authors 
of those poems were, and in several instances their names 
were given. This seemed to please Mr. Hendricks very 
much and he made notes of each on his scrap-book and 
said that he and Mrs. Hendricks had often talked about those 



214 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

poems and wondered who wrote them, and that Mrs. Hend- 
ricks would be delighted to know their authors, &c. In this 
way he took up, as I said before, half an hour or more 
talking upon the subject with which he supposed his guest 
was most familiar. 

After we left, the gentleman said to me that Gov. Hend- 
ricks was a most charming man, that he was more familiar 
with American poets and poetry than anyone not of the 
literary profession he had ever met. I told him it showed 
the Governor's good breeding even more conspicuously than 
his wonderful information, for had he been an engineer, or 
an artist, he would have talked to him with equal facility and 
judgment about the mysteries of engineering, or the divine 
canvases of the old masters. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 215 



CHAPTER IV. 

MR. HENDRICKS' PUBLIC LIFE AND SERVICES. 



ELECTED TO THE LEGISLATURE. A MEMBER OP THE CONSTITUTIONAL 

CONVENTION. GOES TO CONGRESS. CONTINUES IN THAT BODY. 

APPOINTED COMMISSIONER GENERAL LAND OFFICE. GOES TO 

THE UNITED STATES SENATE. COMMITTEES ON WHICH HE 

SERVED. HIS FORCE OF CHARACTER. HIS COURSE IN CON- 
GRESS. RADICAL FOLLIES AND INIQUITIES. HIS VIEWS ON 

IMPORTANT MEASURES. HIS IRRESISTIBLE LOGIC. RACE 

QUESTIONS. A SAFE POSITION. HIS SPEECHES ACCEPTED AS 

DEMOCRATIC DOCTRINES. THE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL. REPU- 
TATION ENHANCED. A PARTY LEADER. THE CONVENTION OF 

1868. A POPULAR CANDIDATE. A STEADY INCREASE. A 

DRAMATIC SCENE. HORATIO SEYMOUR NOMINATED. HIS SPEECH 

OP DECLINATION. VALLANUINGHAM'S REPLY. REHEARSED 

EFFECTS. STATE INGRATITUDE. 

Mr. Hendricks' public life and services, which have been 
long and varied, began in 1848, he being elected in that 
year a member of the Indiana State Legislature. We may 
judge of the estimate placed upon the services of the young 
lawyer while representing his county in the Legislature, 
when we find that in 1850 he was chosen a delegate to the 
Constitutional Convention which modelled the present Con- 
stitution of his State. In that body we find him an active 
and influential member, his speeches and suggestions being 
especially valuable and appreciated. 

In 1851 he was chosen as a member of the Lower House, in 
the National Congress. As a member of Congress he rep- 
resented his district continuously until 1855. In this year 
he was appointed Commissioner of the General Land Office, 
which position he held until 1859, when he resigned it. In 
1860 the Republicans succeeded in carrying the State, and 



216 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Mr. Hendricks was defeated for the Governorship by Henry 
S. Lane. Lane was chosen as United States Senator very 
soon after his election, and Oliver P. Morton succeeded him 
in the Gubernatorial chair. 

In 1862, Indiana began to realize the iniquities of Repub- 
licanism and elected a Democratic Legislature, which sent 
Mr. Hendricks to the United States Senate as a just tribute 
to his ability and purity. His term as Senator ended in 
the year 1869, and during its six year's continuance he served 
on the Committees on Claims, Public Buildings and Grounds, 
the Judiciary, Public Lands, and Naval Affairs. In all of 
these trying and responsible positions he exhibited the 
soundest judgment, and though of course in a hopeless 
minority, commanded the respect even of his political op- 
ponents by his fairness, his firmness and his thorough 
knowledge of the affairs entrusted to those committees. 

It was at this time that the Civil Eights Bill, the Freed- 
men's Bureau Bill and kindred measures were being agi- 
tated by the party then in power. Against these potent in- 
iquities and follies Mr. Hendricks assumed the leardership of 
the opposition and boldly pointed out their fallacies, dis- 
secting them with the merciless scalpels of his sound logic 
and keen wit. He took the always safe ground that the 
good of the many should dominate the whimsical fancies of 
the few, and held that even if the Southern States had been 
in rebellion their prosperity was a matter of more impor- 
tance to their Northern brethren than was that of the negroes. 

*'If," he said conclusively, * 'either race should go to the 
wall in the conflict for supremacy, it should be the black 
race," but he hold, and very logically, too, that the very 
supremacy of the whites was the surest guarantee of the 
safety of the negroes. If white supremacy was conceded 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 217 

they naturally and immediately became the protectors of 
their former slaves, whom nature had by no means fitted to 
take the lead of the Caucasians in legislation, civilization, or 
mastery. 

If, on the contrary, it was attempted to place the whites 
in subjection, real, or implied, to the negroes, then the 
natural ambition and the spirit of mastery inherent in the 
Anglo-Norman people would rise and utterly crush the in- 
ferior race. "This," he said, "must be the inevitable re- 
sult of attempting to reverse the decrees of God and of nature, 
and the Republican party would thus bring about and 
be responsible for the very state of affairs it pretended to 
dread and deplore." 

In the summaries of Conjrressional debates, his aroaiments 
on the great questions of that period have been adopted as, 
and declared to be, the authoritative statements of Demo- 
crat ic doctrine and opinion. In the memorable impeach- 
ment proceedings and trial of Andrew Johnson, the part 
played by Senator Hrndricks w.is an important one and ad- 
ded greatly to his reputation as an able lawyer. 

Nothing is more conclusive of the reputation achieved by 
Mr. Hendricks during his single Senatoral term, than the 
fact, that what with the average man is merely a prepara- 
tory novitiate was sufficient to place him amongst the fore- 
most men of the day, to make him a lender of his party 
and to bring him into prominent notice as an available can- 
didate for the Presidency. But few public men have ever, 
in so short a time, played so prominent a part and gained so 
large a share of distinction. 

In the Democratic National Convention of 1868, hold at 
the city of New York, July 4 to July 9, although not for- 
mally put in nomination, we find Mr. Hendricks gaining 



218 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

steadily from the 2 1-2 votes cast for him on the first bal- 
lot to 132 on the twenty-first ballot, and so great was the 
tide that set in toward the popular Senator, that had it not 
been for the persistent efforts of Ohio (which determined 
that, since her own candidate could not get the nomination, 
no Western man should), he would most certainly have 
been nominated on the twenty-second ballot. 

Mr. Hendricks had gained the solid vote of New York 
and the entire Northwest and the others were rapidly flock- 
ing to his standard when, several ballots after Mr. Pendle- 
ton's letter of withdrawal as a candidate had been read. 
General McCook, of Ohio — when that State had been called 
to announce its vote — arose and said: 

**Mr. Chairman: I arise at the unanimous request and 
demand of the delegation from Ohio, and with the consent 
and approval of every public man in the State — including 
the Honorable George H. Pendleton — to again place in 
nomination, against his inclination, but no longer against 
his honor, the name of Horatio Seymour, of New York. 
Let us vote, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the Conven- 
tion, for a man whom the Presidency has sought, but who 
has not sought the Presidency. I believe in my heart that 
it is the solution of the problem which has been engaging 
the minds of the Democrats and conservative men of this 
nation for the last six months. 

'*I believe it is the solution which will drive from power 
the vandals who now possess the Capitol of the nation. I 
believe it will receive the unanimous assent and approval of 
the great belt of States from the Atlantic — New York, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois 
and Missouri, and away west to the Pacific ocean. 

'*I say that he has not sought the Presidency, and I ask 



THOMAS A. HENDKICKS. 219 

that this Convention shall demand of him that, sinking his 
own inclination and his own well-known desirei he shall 
yield to what we believe to be the almost unanimous wish 
and desire of the delegates to this Convention. In my 
earnestness and enthusiasm, I had almost forgotten to cast 
the twenty-one votes of Ohio for Horatio Seymour." 

Amidst the tremendous cheering, the President of the 
Convention — Hon. Horatio Seymour — advanced to the front 
of the stao:e and in the kindliest terms declined the nomina- 
tion. He said that he could not consistently accept of a 
nomination and that he greatly regretted the mention of his 
name in that connection. In a speech of remarkable 
pathos — which we may give elsewhere — he said that his 
honor was at stake and that while he felt grateful for the 
honor that had been conferred upon him yet he must beg 
to decline it. 

"God knows," he said, "that my life and all that I 
value most in life I would give for the good of my country, 
which I believe to be identified with that of the Democratic 
party. I do not stand here as a man proud of his opinions, 
or obstinate in his purposes, but upon a question of duty 
and of honor, I must stand upon my own convictions 
against the world." He concluded by saying, "Gentlemen, 
I thank you, and may God bless you for your kindness to 
me, but your candidate I cannot be." 

Hon. Thomas L. Price, of Missouri, now took the chair, 
and Mr. Vallandingham, of Ohio, arising said: 

"Mr. President, in times of great public exigency, and 
especially in times of great public calamity, every personal 
consideration must be yielded to the public good. The 
safety of the people is the supreme law, and the safety of 
the American Kepublic demands the nomination of Horatio 



220 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Seymour, of New York. Ohio cannot — Ohio will not accept 
his declination, and her twenty-one votes shall stand re- 
corded in his name. And now I call upon the delegations 
from all the States represented on this floor, upon the dele- 
gations from all the States of this Union, from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific, from the great lakes to the gulf, that, disre- 
garding those minor considerations, which justly it may be, 
properly I know, tend to sway them in casting their ballots, 
they make this nomination unanimous, and before God I 
believe that in November the judgment of this Convention 
will be confirmed and ratified by the people of all the 
United States. Let the vote of Ohio stand recorded then — 
twenty-one votes for Horatio Seymour." 

Thus dramatically did the State of his birth — Ohio — strike 
down from the post of honor, the best and the brightest of 
all of her natal sons. Sudden and unpremeditated as this 
scene may seem, it had been long contemplated, and already 
rehearsed by the Ohio delegates. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 221 



CHAPTER V. 

MR. HENDRICKS' POLITICAL LIFE. 



RUNS FOR GOVERNOR. RADICAL FRAUDS. RUNS AHEAD OP HIS 

PARTY. THE ELECTION OF 1860. A POSTPONED HONOR. 

ELECTEDGOVEKNOR. A SPLENDID MAJORITY. INDIANA NOT A 

DOUBTFUL STATE WHEN MR. HENDRICKS RUNS. A RECAPITULA- 
TION OP MAJORITIES. STEADILY GAINING IN POPULARITY. A 

FACTIOUS REPUBLICAN BODY. A NON-POLITICAL OFFICE. 

THE PEOPLE DISGUSTED. REPLACED BY DEMOCRATS. THE 

BAXTER BILL REPEALED. GOVERNOR HENDRICK'S PREFERENCE. 

THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION OP 187G. A GRAND TICKET. 

TILDEN, THE SAGE, AND HENDRICKS, THE STATESMAN. THE 

DAYS OF THE ANAKIM. CREATURES OF THE OOZE AND SLIME. 

SCHEMES OF ROBBERY AND CORRUPTION. INTIMIDATION 

AND BRIBERY, THE DEMOCRATIC TICKET ELECTED. PATRIOT- 
ISM OP THE DEMOCRACY. THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION AND 

THE INFAMOUS EIGHT. PERJURED AND DISGRACED. APPLES 

OF SODOM. crime's LOWEST DEEP. 

In the fall of the same year Mr. Hendricks made the race 
for Governor of his State, and was defeated by Conrad 
Baker, for that office. The alleged majority of Governor 
Baker, now a law partner of Mr. Hendricks, was 1,161, and 
it was boldly asserted at the time, and never fully dis- 
proved, that this majority was far from an honest one. To 
show how Mr. Hendricks is regarded by all classes in his 
State, the majority for Grant, the same year, was 9,579; 
Mr. Hendricks runnins^ far ahead of his ticket. 

In 1860, when defeated by Lane, the majority in favor of 
his opponent was only 9,757, while the majority of Mr. 
Lincoln over Judge Douglas was 23,524. These figures 
show the deservedly great popularity of Mr. Hendricks 
with all of the citizens of Indiana, even with those politi- 
cally opposed to him. Retiring from his Senatorial office 



222 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

in 1868, Mr. Hendricks resumed the practice of law in 
Indianapolis. In the convention of 1872, the fusion of the 
Democrats and Liberal Republicans postponed the placing 
of Mr. Hendrick's name on the national ticket. 

Returning to his State, he was nominated for the Guber- 
natorial office, and carried the State by 1,148. This was in 
spite of the most lavish use of money by the administration 
machine, and his triumph over General Thomas M. Browne, 
may justly be regarded as a grand one. General Grant's 
majority over Mr. Greeley was 22,924, and Governor Hen- 
dricks was the only Democrat elected that year, if we ex- 
cept Professor Hopkins, whose office is strictly anon-politi- 
cal one. Thus we see that he ran ahead of his ticket by 
24,072 votes. 

This showing should banish all fears of those who have any 
doubt as to the course of Indiana in the coming Presiden- 
tial contest. Not all the Star-route and naval job money 
that can be poured into the State will be able to seduce 
her citizens from the support of her greatest son and 
America's grandest statesman. The man who sets Indiana 
down upon his table of probabilities as doubtful is but a 
poor political prophet and can but dimly have read and in- 
terpreted her admiration for Thomas A. Hendricks. 

In his first contest for Governor, when he was not so well 
known nor so thoroughly appreciated, and when the fury 
of sectional passion blinded the eyes of the people of Indiana 
to his purity and his ability, he was beaten by a majority 
of 9,757, though even then he ran far ahead of his ticket. 
Steadily gaining in popularity and power as his transcend- 
ent abilities became apparent, he carried the State by a 
majority that placed him 24,072 votes ahead of his party. 

It may be set down as a safe prediction that Indiana will 



THOIMAS A. HENDRICKS 223 

never desert the cause of her favorite son, the defrauded 
patriot of 1876. Governor Hendricks, during his term of 
office as Chief Executive of his State, presided over stormy 
elements. As before stated, not a single Democratic officer, 
except himself and Professor Hopkins, Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, was elected, and no such factious and 
turbulent body ever before controlled the destinies of a 
Commonwealth. 

The bickerings of the Kepublican factions were shameful, 
and in fact so disgusting was their conduct of affairs, that 
the people elected, in 1875, a Democratic Legislature to re- 
place them. The Republicans succeeded in passing the 
notorious Baxter law while in power and so unanimously 
were the representatives in favor of the measure that in 
order to avoid the appearance of endeavoring to delay and 
defeat the will of the people. Governor Hendricks felt con- 
strained to sign it. 

The Baxter law was local option under another name, 
and in its stead Governor Hendricks preferred a strict 
license law, but he gave way to the will of the people as 
expressed by their representatives, even though those rep- 
resentatives were shameless demagogues. In 1875, when 
a Democratic majority controlled the Legislature, the Baxter 
Bill was repealed and Governor Hendricks clearly and con- 
cisely stated his views in support of a preference for a 
strict tax law. 

In 1876 the Democracy assembled in Convention at St. 
Louis and selected for standard bearers the purest of her 
representative men. It is needless to say that these cham- 
pions were Samuel J. Tilden of New York, and Thomas A. 
Hendricks of Indiana. Never since the days of the found- 
ers of the Republic J since the time of Washington, Jeffer- 



224 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

son, Madison and Monroe had two such names graced a polit- 
ical ticket. All that was best and purest in the conduct of 
political affairs, all that was noblest and brightest in states- 
manship, and all that was truest and most incorruptible in 
patriotism and moral worth found expression and portrayal 
in the Democratic nominees of 1876. 

It was a return to the days of the giants and the demi- 
gods, upon one side at least. Upon the other were the grovel- 
ling creatures of the slime and ooze of corrupt politics; of 
festering bribery, and of foul malfeasance and abuse of 
public trust. The very initial movement of the Republi- 
cans outlined the plan of their campaign. Emerging from 
their noisome dens, wherein they had conceived every form 
of public robbery and corruption, the Bradys, Dorseys, 
Elkins, Robesons, Chandlers, and creatures of that ilk crept 
forth to array themselves upon the side of injustice. 

Money extorted from miserable clerks, stolen from the 
public treasury, filched from the naval fund, and robbed 
from the mail routes and post-office department was squan- 
dered in profusion. Intimidation, when it could be used, 
and the sneak-thieves' and bribery agents' methods when they 
were most powerful, were used in vain, for the people had 
risen against the corruptionists and determined to dash them 
from power. The plans of the robbers failed and Tilden 
and Hendricks were elected. 

Now comes in the most infamous crime, the most damna- 
ble outrage, ever perpetrated by a party in which crime and 
outrage are its chief instruments. There was an ominous 
marching of troops, a concentration of the military, and to 
this covert threat was added the open declaration that the 
Republican party would seat its defeated candidates. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 225 

Dreading the precipitation of a civil war that in magni- 
tude and barbarity would have exceeded any war ever waged 
and that would have left the country completely at the 
mercy of any foreign foe, the Democracy, hoping that there 
might be something of honesty, patriotism and decency left 
in the Republican leaders, agreed to abide by the determi- 
nation of the Electoral Commission. 

The result is well known. The ^'Infamous Eight," dis- 
regarding their oaths, their honor, patriotism and decency, 
and guided and controlled only by partisanship and the con- 
siderations of public plunder, installed in office a miserable 
creature whom they themselves afterward denounced as a 
paltry fraud and a contemptible object. 

The golden glittering fruit that in anticipation had seemed 
so sweet and fair had in the consummation of their iniquity, 
like the cursed apples of Sodom, 

"Turned to ashes on their lips." 

They had perjured themselves, prostituted their high 
office, acted the part of traitors, thieves and villains, and 
they had met with a just reward. They had degraded them- 
selves, degraded their partisans high and low, degraded the 
office of the Presidency and made a mock of public decency 
and patriotism. In all the record of crimes against public 
morals there is nothing to compare with this Radical infamy, 
this theft of the American Presidency, this debasement 
of the American Republic. 



226 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER VI. 

LA'VVYER, STATESMAN AND PATRIOT. 



ARISTIDES THE JUST. ANCIENT DEMAGOGUES. MR. HENDRICKS' 

RETURN TO PRIVATE LIFE. PRACTICING LAW. PECULIAR 

FITNESS FOR HIS AVOCATION. REVEALED MYSTERIES. OFF- 
HAND OPINIONS. THE ESSENCE OF ALL LAW. A READY MAN. 

HIS STYLE OF ARGUMENT. SMOOTH, POWERFUL ELOQUENCE. 

SERENE AND SMILING. A FORENSIC TREAT. GOOD NA- 

TURED SARCASM. A CELEBRATED CASE. THE SURPRISE 

SPRUNG. MANEUVERING FOR TIME. A STRONG POINT. A 

SHREWD ADDRESS. PROMPTITUDE AND EARNESTNESS. A DRA- 
MATIC SCENE. THE JURY APPLAUDED. MANAQEMENTOF CASES. 

CIVIL AND CIUMINAL CASES. A GENERAL PRACTITIONER. 

HIS GENERAL READING. OMNIVEROUS LITERARY TASTE. 

HIS LITERARY STYLE. EPIGRAMMATIC EXPRESSIONS. CON- 
TRIBUTIONS TO THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. A VERSATILE 

MAN. 

As Aristides the Just, submitted uncomplainingly to the 
base ostracism of the Athenians, so did the patriot Thomas 
A. Hendricks submit to the Radical infamies of the Elec- 
toral Commission, and defrauded of his position in the Vice- 
Presidency, he returned again to private life without a 
murmur at the injustice done by perjured partisans. He 
well knew that no thief or perjurer could rob him of the re- 
spect and admiration of the American people, or of his 
justly earned popularity with the citizens of his State. 

Again he renewed his practice of the law, a vocation for 
which he is, by the peculiarities of his mental abilities, most 
admirably fitted. His quickness of comprehension, his 
ready eloquence, his legal acumen and his habits of study 
eminently qualify him for a legal i)ractice, and his return 
to his avocation was warmly welcomed by his hosts of clients 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 227 

and friends. Beginning at the ground work of his profession 
and working his way up with an unceasing and tireless appli- 
cation and study, the deepest mysteries of the profession 
are as patent to him as the broad noon-day sun. 

Though he always carefully reviews and studies the au- 
thorities bearing on a cause, yet he is one of those old- 
fashioned jurists who cannot by any means be called *'a 
lawyer to the case." His off-hand opinions, derived from 
his thorouofh and intimate knowledg^e of the sources and 
principles of law, are more valuable and carry more weight 
than those of most disciples of Blackstone with the book in 
hand and the leaves turned down to the authority. 

The fundamental principles of law — the essence, as it 
were, of all laws — are as familiar as household words, and so 
retentive in his memory that he can always refer to any 
decision wanted. In his practice, his strong physique and 
wonderful nerve-power, stand him in good stead, and he is 
never at a loss for a reply to a question, or for a defense 
against any surprise that may be suddenly sprung upon him. 

His appeals to the jury are never mere sensational dec- 
lamations to catch their sympathies or delude their judg- 
ment. Interwoven in the meshes of his discourse are sub- 
tile points of law, strong showings of equity and clear 
enunciations of authority, that never fail to interest, and 
often instruct the judge who may be sitting in the case. 
His eloquence is neither frothy nor wordy, but carries the 
auditor along gently yet irresistibly. There is no violence 
of declamation, no shrieking, stamping of the feet, and 
wind-mill swinging of the arms, but all is smooth, powerful 
and noble. 

No matter how great the interest at stake, nor how bitter 
and acrimonious his opponents may become, he never loses 



228 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

his temper, but remains cool, serene and smiling. He is a 
master of sarcasm, but it is tempered by his genial manner 
and his ready wit, and when he is up for a speech, the court 
room is always crowded with auditors, who anticipate a fo- 
rensic treat. His coolness and readiness have saved him 
from many a defeat. 

Upon one noted occasion when he was making a closing 
argument to the jury in an important case, the judge inter- 
rupted him to ask his opinion of a point of law which, up 
to the very moment of this question, had been entirely over- 
looked by his opponents. As it had not been sprung by 
them, he had paid no attention to it, but now it was an all 
important matter, as a ruling against him by the judge, 
would surely weaken and might defeat his cause. 

Asking the judge to state the question again, in order to 
gain a moment's time for reflection, he gave it a rapid 
mental scrutiny. He proved himself equal to the emer- 
gency, and as the judge had finished his statement of the 
point, his line of argument had been decided upon. This 
attack in the rear was a serious one, but his generalship 
saved him from defeat. The point was a very strong one 
against him, and in his address to the judge upon the law 
he did not neglect to mingle a number of comments on its 
equity especially intended for the jury. 

The rapidity with which he had attacked the soundness 
of the point raised, the earnestness with which he argued 
it, and the side hits at the jury as to its unfairness, while 
they did not succeed in convincing the judge carried the 
jury along with him and he gained the case. The eloquence 
and the promptitude with which he met this unforseen at- 
tack, made the scene quite a dramatic one, and there was 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 229 

not a one of the vast crowd of spectators but thought that 
the jury was justified iu its decision. 

His managrenient of a case, in orsfanizino; his lines of 
attack or defense, his arrangement of the law and evidence 
bearing upon it, his careful guarding against every possible 
surprise and emergency, have been rarely equalled and 
never excelled by any lawyer that America has ever pro- 
duced. This is the more wonderful when it is taken into 
consideration, that Gov. Hendricks has no legal specialty. 
A true practitioner of the old school, he is equally at home 
in the criminal as in the civil branch of his profession 

It might well be supposed that the years of study spent 
in the acquisition of this legal lore would, with most men, 
have left but little time for general reading. This, however, 
is not the case with Gov. Hendricks, whose taste in litera- 
ture seems almost omniverous, and whose researches have 
made him familiar with the best works of poetry, fiction, 
drama, mechanics, theology and other subjects. His busy 
brain, like "the old curiosity shop," contains an assort- 
ment of information truly wonderful in any one mind, and 
marvelous in that of so thorough a toiler in legal fields. 

His literary style is clear, forcible, concise and elegant. 
His expressions are epigrammatic, his words Anglo-Saxon 
in their brevity, and his sentences well turned and neatly 
rounded out. There is no striving after effect, no florid 
adjectives, no involved and plethoric sentences, but in their 
stead, we have the terse, vigorous English of Addison and 
Steele ; simple, forceful and elegant. The articles con- 
tributed by Gov. Hendricks, some three years ago, to the 
NoHli American Review — especially one upon the tariff — 
are masterly in their scope and treatment, and should be 
read by all. 



230 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Whether we regard him as a lawyer, a statesman, a lit- 
erateur^ or best of all, a patriot, Governor Hendricks can- 
not fail to merit our esteem and admiration. While making 
no pretensions to being an "Admirable" Crichton, or a uni- 
versal genius, yet he is certainly a man of singular versatility 
and varied talents. American politics of the present day 
nowhere furnishes us with his parallel in either purity, 
ability, talents or statesmanship. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 231 



CHAPTER VII. 

MR. HENDRICKS' FINANCIAL POLICY. 



WIHOUT A HOBBY. AN ADVOCATE OF POPULAR EDUCATION. - 



truth's ultimate: triumph. democratic victory in 1876. 

equality in representation. no apologies to make. 



KIGID DEMOCRATIC ECONOMY. A LOUISIANA CRIMINAL CON- 
VICTED. JOHN SHERMAN AND MR. HAYES. THEIR INTERFER- 
ENCE IN STATE TRIALS. THEIR GUILT IMPLIED. PROPER 

PUNISHMENT FOR CONSPIRATORS. UNEMPLOYED CAPITAL AND 

LABOR. RICH IN SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS. THE PARTY IN 

POWER. SPECIAL LEGISLATION. INJURY TO THE DEBTOR 

CLASSES. GOVERNOR ALLEN'S DEFEAT. DE^MOCRATIC RELIEF 

BILL. REPUBLICAN OPPOSITION. FINANCIAL POLICY OF THE 

COUNTRY INTERPRETED. 

On questions of State and National policy Mr. Hendricks 
has displayed masterly knowledge. He is a man without 
hobbies and if he can be said to have any pet legislation 
particularly at heart it is that pertaining to the common 
school system. As a member of the Constitutional Con- 
vention of Indiana, he was active in securing for popular 
education ample provisions and safeguards, and in placing 
it beyond the reach of any and all vicissitudes of politics. 

If he could be called extravagant even by his bitterest 
enemy, this is the only point upon which the charge could 
by any possibility lie — the single point of securing to the 
masses an education that might be sufficient to give to 
them the means of bettering their condition. If this can 
be called a fault, this solicitude for the children of the 
poor, then indeed is it a noble one, that may almost be 
classed with the virtues. 

In a speech to the Indiana Democratic State Convention, 



232 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

which met at Indianapolis, February 20, 1878, and of which 
he was the presiding officer, he expresses himself on the 
topics of the day in the following manner: 

"lam greatly honored in being called to preside over 
your deliberations. I will discharge the duties imposed 
upon me impartially, and I call upon you, by the grave re- 
sponsibilities that rest upon you, to aid me in preserving 
order and decorum and the right conduct of the business 
of the Convention. 

"You and I have stood together in the contests of the past, 
encouraged sometimes by success, but more frequently en- 
countering the disasters of defeat, but we have always stood 
together, relying without a doubt upon the ultimate triumph 
of truth and right. No discord or jealousy has disturbed 
our ranks; respect and confidence have everywhere pre- 
vailed. None have sought to promote personal ambition by 
excitins: distrust between the counties and sections of the 
State. Union, harmony and conviction of right gave us 
the brilliant victory of 1876, which not only challenged the 
admiration of the Democracy of the country, but estab- 
lished Indiana as a Democratic State. 

"The work to be done in 1878 is scarcely less important. 
Not only is Democratic supremacy to be maintained by the 
election of the State ticket, but the Legislature must be se- 
cured. The fraudulent and unconstitutional apportionment 
of 1873 must be supplanted by an apportionment of legisla- 
tive and congressional representation in the spirit of the 
Constitution, giving to the people of each county and sec- 
tion of the State an equal voice in the enactment of the 
laws, in proportion to tiie population. 

"We ask no more than equality in representation ; we 
should acce[)t nothing lo^s. Njcd I remind you that a Sen- 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 233 

ator of the United States is to be chosen, and need I add that 
upon that choice may depend the question whether the 
United States Senate shall be Democratic? He who now, 
without cause, shall sow discord and excite jealousy in our 
ranks is not a true Democrat. From border to border and 
from the river to the hike, we will stand in unbroken and 
unwavering ranks, with the fixed purpose that Indiana shall 
stand amonofist the stronofest and the firmest of the Demo- 
cratic States. 

"It is an ao^reeable and encouramno: fact that we enter the 
contest this year with no apologies or explanations to make 
for the present or late State administration. The present 
head of the State government is a gentleman of clear judg- 
ment, painstakingand thorough in his investigations, and care- 
ful of all the interests of the Commonw^ealth. Personally 
identified with the most important interests of the people he 
will diligently promote its success by rigid economy in ex- 
penditure, and by excluding all un^vorthy and unnecessary 
objects of public favor. In his care for the public welfare 
he receives the efficient support of the several State 
officers. 

*'One of the Louisiana criminals has been tried and con- 
victed. The President and John Sherman say he should 
not have been tried. Why not? His guilt and that of 
others is shown by the verdict. It is a high crime against 
the nation and threatening the stability of free institutions. 
What are the relations between the President and jNIr. 
Sherman and the accused that authorize or permit an effort 
on their part to influence judicial proceedings in a State 
court? After a long and terrible contest, it is settled that 
State elections and State Leo^islatures must be free from 
military influence and control. 



^34 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

**So also it mast be understood that tlie President and his 
Cabinet cannot directly or indirectly interfere with judicial 
proceedings under State authority. State courts must be 
wholly free and independent of federal control, except where 
the Constitution and laws give to the federal judiciary an 
appellate supervision. 

*'It is to be regretted that the facts developed upon the 
trial are of such a character as to create anxiety on the part 
of the President or any of his Cabinet; but the}" cannot 
avoid the effect upon the public mind of an exhibition of 
that anxiety, and of unseemly denunciation of the State au- 
thorities. While it is true that the title of Mr. Hayes to the 
office of President, and of Mr. Wheeler to the office of Vice- 
President have been settled under the solemn forms of law ; 
and while it is our duty, in my judgment, to recognize the 
titles, because it is in the interest of stability and tran- 
quility to do so, it is still none the less true that an impera- 
tive duty demands that fitting punishment should be visited 
upon the public criminals through whose flagitious crime that 
judgment was obtained. 

* ^Because a judgment is final and conclusive forms no 
reason why immunity should be secured to the criminal 
through whose perjury it was obtained. If this is true of a 
simple property judgment rendered in a court of law, much 
more is it true of a monstrous crime against the elective 
sovereignty of a nation. The very fact that it was success- 
ful furnishes the st^'ongest reason why the condign punish- 
ment of its perpetrators should cover it with perpetual in- 
famy and manifest, to all future conspirators against the lib- 
erties of the nation, the danger of attempting its repetition. 
"Since the close of the war the Republican party has been 
h\ almost uninterrupted control of the government of the 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 235 

United States. During these thirteen years its will has 
been absolute. It has governed legislation, dictated poli- 
cies and controlled the finances. Shall it render no account 
to the country ? Capital and labor are unemployed, busi- 
ness is stagnant and enterprise is paralyzed. Alarm has 
seized the people; they are threatened not only with pov- 
erty, but with destitution and want. When an industrious 
and intelligent people are found in such a state and condi- 
tion, it is the dictate of wisdom to seek and remove the 
cause. 

**Our country possesses wonderful advantages of soil and 
climate. Its products include many of the great and valua- 
ble staples which command the markets of the world. Its 
mines have been productive. In such a country why is it 
that the people tremble with alarm as they contemplate the 
present and look toward the future? The party that 
seeks to continue in power should answer that question. 
What answer can be made^ Have not the special enact- 
ments and the general policy been for the few and against 
the many? 

**The contract between the United States and the public 
creditors has been changed and the change has been against 
the people. The currency has been changed, but it has 
been by contraction, to the hurt of the debtor classes. The 
resumption act was adopted by a party vote in Congress 
and to serve party purposes. The great contest for its re- 
peal was in Ohio, in the fall of 1875. Governor Allen led 
the movement. His defeat by Governor Hayes was the de- 
feat of repeal. The St. Louis Convention declared in favor 
of the repeal of the resumption clause, and the Democratic 
House, then in session, made the pledge of our party good 
and true by passing a bill for such repeal. The Senate was 



236 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Republican and refused to concur. That body accepted 
Governor Allen's defeat as a popular endorsement of re- 
sumption. 

**Since the inauguration of President Hayes, I have re- 
garded repeal as hopeless. He was pledged to resumption. 
Every vote for him was a vote for resumption. If John 
Shermar>, at the head of the Treasury, holds the position, 
he will enforce the strictest and hardest execution of the 
law, and it is understood that any bill to repeal the cl.iuse 
will never be vetoed. I have heretofore said that, ' in my 
belief, the resumption law has been the source of the great- 
est calamity to the business interests and prosperity of the 
country. It has had the effect of causing men to hoard 
greenbacks and the banks to withhold and withdraw circu- 
lation in the fear of being crushed by the forced resumption 
in gold.' 

'*A favorable foreign trade has promoted a return to specie 
payment, and if the balances shall continue in our favor, I 
shall expect to see our paper money at a par with gold at 
an early day. Will the restoration of silver money miti- 
gate the evils of contraction caused by the resumption law? 
That is now the hope of the business men of Indiana. It 
is not as cheap money that the people demand its restora- 
tion, but as a legal tender and coin contemplated by the 
Constitution. When restored, it will become again a stan- 
dard and measure of value. Before its demoralization 
silver was at a par with gold, and when restored I think it 
will arise again to the same level. 

"I need hardly say to you that the value of any class or 
description of property greatly depends upon the important 
uses to which it maybe applied. Silver was money. They 
stripped it of that, its most important use, and now say it is 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 237 

worth eight per cent, less than before, and therefore it can- 
not be good money. Is that a fair argtunenl ? As a mate- 
rial for the manufacture of ware, silver will have only the 
value which that use can give it, but when stamped with the 
quality of money and made a legal tender for the payment 
of all classes of indebtedness, it becomes the active agent 
of trade and commerce, measures values, and discharges 
debts, and in such uses becomes correspondingly more im- 
portant to society, and more valuable. 

"Were gold stripped of the quality of money, what would 
be the effect upon its value? I do not believe the pennyweight 
of gold in the beautiful wine cup is as useful to society or as 
valuable as the same weight of gold in the stani})ed coin, 
which does its busy work in the channels of trade, and the 
demoralization of gold would demonstrate that fact. I 
have heretofore said that ' silver has become an important 
product of this country, and inasmuch as the world recog- 
nizes it as a money medium of exchange, I cannot see why 
we should not utilize our large product of that metal to the 
greatest extent that may be found valuable. Its value as 
money to this country is too great to be thrown away.' 

"Should experience prove, that because of the increased 
production of silver, there will be a permanent and impor- 
tant difference between silver and gold. Congress is clothed 
with ample power to provide the proper and adequate 
remedy. 

"It is objected to the restoration of silver money that it 
will be in bad faith toward the public creditors. If I 
thought that possible, I would not favor restoration, how- 
ever important to our interests I might esteem it. My 
judgment is so entirely satisfied that I have no anxiety upon 
that question. The question is settled by the fair reading 



238 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

of the Public Credit Act of 18(39, and the Funding Act of 
1870. At the date of the former Act, it was lawful to pay 
the 5-20 bonds in Treasury notes. But it was contended 
that because of the circumstances attending the creation of 
the debt, it would not be proper so to construe the laws, 
and that payment ought not to be made in paper. To remove 
doubt and settle all contoversy, the Act was passed. It 
pledged the faith of the United States to payment in coin. 

'' I opposed the measure in the Senate, and said that its 
effect would be to make the law to read that * the debt shall 
be paid in coin.' The bill passed and became a law. 
Thereupon the debt became payable only in coin, not in 
gold coin alone, but in silver coin as well, for ' the silver 
dollar was then a part of the coin of the country, as hon- 
ored in law and commerce as gold.' 

**Next came the law of July 14, 1870, to refund the 
national debt. That Act provided for the issue of new 
bonds to the amount of fifteen hundred million dollars, 
bearing 4, 4i and 5 per cent, interest. The bonds so to be 
issued were to be exchan2;ed for the outstandino; 5-20 bonds 
'par for par,' or sold for coin, and the proceeds were to 
be used in redeeming the 5-20 bonds. In the first section 
of the law it was provided that the new bonds should be 
made * redeemable in coin at the present standard value.' 
That law, gentlemen, had no uncertain meaning. The new 
bonds were to be substituted for all the outstanding: 5-20 
bonds; they were to be sold for coin, and it was to be made 
a part of their language that 'they shall be redeemable in 
coin of the present standard value.' 

*'My views on this subject were recently considered of 
sufficient importance by a distinguished citizen of New York 
to call for a review and answer by himself. He had un- 



TFI0:MAS a. HENDRICKS. 239 

questionably given the phraseology of the law relating to 
the bonds a closer study than I had, for it was in the line of 
his business and of his profits. I had examined these laws 
with no professional or business purpose, but only as a cit- 
izen interested in the financial policy of the country. He 
found it useful to his argument to show, if possible, that 
the law, under which the public debt was being refunded, 
required the bonds to be paid in gold. 

*'He used this language: 'Yet I am supported by the 
opinion of illustrious lawyers in the land, that gold pay- 
ments of the debt are required and assured by the Refund- 
ing Act of 1870 itself, which indeed mentions generally 
*coin' in its first section; but then in its fifth section, to 
carry out the Act, excludes silver and specifically commands 
the Secretary of the Treasury to receive only *gold coin' as 
the coin of deposit and payment.' 

*'I am sure it will astonish you, after hearing this passage 
read, to learn that the fifth section has nothing whatever to 
do with the provisions and sales of the new bonds. It pro- 
vides for this and no more: that the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury might, for two years receive gold on deposit and issue 
gold certificates bearing a low rate of interest, and that the 
deposit might be withdrawn any time after thirty days, 
upon ten days' notice, and that twenty-five per cent should 
be retained in the Treasury to pay the certificates and the 
residue used to redeem 5-20 bonds. 

*'In my letter accepting the St. Louis nomination for Vice- 
President, I said, 'Gold and silver are the real standards of 
value.' Indeed, I would rejoice if our supply of the precious 
metals were sufficient for the wants of our trade and com- 
merce. But we all know that it is insufficient and that we 



240 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

must also have a paper currency, and therefore I have op- 
posed the policy of a forced resumption of specie payments 
based upon contraction by withdrawing the Treasury notes 
from circulation. The Treasury note has been a safe cur- 
rency, and the people have had confidence in it and have 
not asked for its redemption. Whilst it is a safe currency, 
it is also a cheap currency in the sense that it does not 
represent an interest-bearing obligation of the government. 
In that respect and in the respect that it is a legal tender, it 
is a better currency than the national bank note. Because 
of these views I have urged the repeal, not only of the re- 
sumption clause, but also of the provisions that sought to 
substitute bank notes for the outstanding Treasury notes. 
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

*'The silver bill is to become a law; then every month, if 
John Sherman will obey the command of Congress, the sil- 
ver will go rolling out over the country and through the 
channels of trade, like the red blood that goes through a 
man's veins and arteries, and gives him life and power, 
energy and vitality." 

We have given at some length the views of Mr. Hendricks 
upon the financial policy of the country, at the time this 
speech was made, to show how entirely in accord with the 
great popular sentiment he was. The attempt to demone- 
tize silver at the expense of the people and in favor of the 
bond holders was the policy of the Radical leaders, but 
happily they were forced to give way to the pressure of 
public sentiment. The suggestion of substituting Treasury 
notes entirely for bills of the national banks is also genuine 
Democratic policy. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 241 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE BANNER OF REFORM. 



A HISTORIC NAME. SERVICES OF WILLIAM HENDRICKS. A SUF- 
FICIENCY OF HONORS. KILLED IN BATTLE. DEAD ON THE 

FIELD OF HONOR. A MAN AMONGST MEN. DEMOCRATIC 

GIANTS. OPPOSITION AND CRITICISM. AN UNASSAILABLE 

RECORD. A NOBLE CHAMPION. AN ACCEPTABLE LEADER. 

EARNEST BUT NOT VIOLENT. CALM AND DIGNIFIED. SECRE- 
TARY CHANDLER CASTIGATED. A FOOLISH LIAR. MR. HEN- 
DRICKS' SPEECH AT INDIANAPOLIS. A GREAT YEAR. A RE- 
MARKABLE CONVENTION. NO STAR ROUTES UNDER CLEVELAND. 

EXAMINE THE BOOKS. THOUSANDS STOLEN IN THE NAVY DE- 
PARTMENT. THE GUILTY MUST BE BROUGHT TO TRIAL. AN 

EFFORT FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT. THKKE MUST BE A CHANGE. 

PUT HONEST MEN IN. THE BANNER OF REFORM. DUTY OF 

THE GOVERNMENT. 

The name of Hendricks is one of historic importance in 
Indiana and is one that has been borne by many of her 
great men. William Hendricks, the uncle of Thomas A. 
Hendricks, was a member and the Secretary of the Con- 
vention that formed the first Constitution of the State. He 
was her first Representative in Congress, her second Gov- 
ernor, and for two terms represented her with honor and 
ability in the United States Senate. This was certainly a 
sufficiency of political honors for any man and showed the 
esteem in which he was held by the citizens of the young 
Commonwealth. 

John Adam Hendricks, a cousin of Governor Hendricks, 
fell at the battle of Pea Ridge, in Arkansas, while bravely 
leading his regiment in a charge upon the enemy's lines. 
Thomas Hendricks, another cousin was killed in the Bayou 
Teche country, in Louisiana, while gallantly battling for the 



242 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

cause of the Union. Many others of this noble family 
might be mentioned, who in the civic arena or upon the 
field of strife have distinguished themselves and served 
their country. 

The subject of our sketch, however, is facile princeps 
even amongst his noble and noted kinsmen. As a lawyer 
he has for years stood at the head of the bar in a judicial 
circuit, noted throughout the United States for legal tal- 
ent ; as a statesman he easily and quickly took rank 
amongst the leaders of his party, though those leaders 
were moral and intellectual giants, as witness Bayard, 
Thurman, McDonald, Tilden and Beck; as a patriot he 
must ever rank, along with his noble coadjutor, Tilden, 
with that grandest of all patriots since time began, the im- 
mortal Washington. 

It is true that the views of Governor Hendricks have 
met with opposition and criticism, as indeed the purest 
and grandest measures ever must, but the bitterest hostile 
criticism has never dared to assail his public or his private 
morals. The vilest calumny has shrunk abashed from at- 
tacking a record so unassailable as his, and while his political 
enemies may have detested the noble cause that he espoused, 
yet they had nothing but respect and admiration for the 
unflinching boldness and the absolute purity of the man 
himself. 

All have done him the justice, and it is only justice, to 
see that his honest soul would scorn to utter a sentiment in 
which he did not place implicit faith, or to be capable of 
an action that had in it aught of dishonesty or deceit. This 
purity of character was of great value to him as a leader, 
for all felt that under his banner there was safety from 
even the suspicion of evil. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 243 

But one other man in his State ever so completely led his 
party as does Grovernor Hendricks, and when the mantle of 
political generalship fell from Jesse D. Bright, Hend- 
ricks was the Elisha that received it. This was not that 
able public men were either few or far between in Indiana, 
as witness McDonald, Voorhees and others, but that all 
felt that Thomas A. Hendricks, like Saul amongst the 
Israelites, stood head and shoulders above them all. 

In no sense of the word is Mr. Hendricks a violent par- 
tisan, though he is an earnest and honorable one — it is not 
in his nature to be violent upon any subject any more than 
the broad and majestic river can brawl like the swollen 
brooklet. His mind is a sea where the storms of furious 
passion and the tides of blind prejudice do not enter. Not 
that he is unprovided with a proper amount of temper and 
a respectable degree of pugnacity, but these are exerted 
with a calmness almost beyond belief. 

His assaults are the more terrible fromthiscalm dignity, as 
witness his castigation of that miserable creature Chandler, 
Secretary of the Navy who replied to some strictures on the 
administration of affairs in his department. In order to 
show the controversy in its regular sequence we will now 
give the speech that called out Chandler's letter — which we 
shall show by the best authority to have been a lying attempt 
at an excuse. A lars^e Democratic mass meetinjj was held at 
Indianapolis on the night of July 12, at which, without any 
preparation, Mr. Hendricks delivered the following speech, 
he being greeted at the outset with deafening cheers and 
the warmest words of welcome : 

<<My Fellow Citizens — ^You are almost as mad as they 
were in the Convention at Chicago. [Great cheering.] I 
thought they would not stop up their throats at all, and I 



244 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

thoufrbt there was no limit to the crowd there, but I find 
there is larger almost here. I am encouraged and delighted 
to meet you on this occasion. You come to celebrate and 
express your approval of the nominations that were made 
at Chicago. I am glad that you are cordial in this expres- 
sion. This is a great year with us. Every fourth year we 
elect two great officers of the Government. This year is 
our great year, and every man, whatever his party associ- 
ations may be, is called upon to reconsider all questions 
upon which he is disposed to act, and having reconsidered, 
to cast his vote in favor of what he believes to be right. 
The Democracy of Indiana appointed me one of the dele- 
gates to the Convention at Chicago. I spent nearly a week 
in attendance in that city, and now I return to say a few 
things to you, and only a few things in regard to that Con- 
vention. It was the largest Convention ever held in 
America. Never has such an assemblage of people been 
seen before. It was a convention marked in its character 
for sobriety, deliberation and purposes. It selected two 
men to carry the banner, and leaving that Convention and 
going out before the people the question is, will you help 
carry the banner? [Great cheering and cries of *we will do 
it.'] I do not expect — I have no right to expect — that I 
will escape criticism and, it may be, slander of the opposite 
party. I have not in my life suffered very much from that. 
But I am before you. Democrats, Conservatives, Indepen- 
dents, all men who wish to restore the government to the 
position it occupied before these corrupt times, and to all 
such men I make my appeal for your support for the high 
office for which I have been nominated by the Democracy 
at Chicago. [Great cheers.] 

*'Gov. Cleveland of New York is the nominee for 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 245 

President ; a man promoted to that high office by the 
largest majority ever deciding an election in that State. 
He is a man of established honesty of character, and if you 
will elect him to the Presidency of the United States, you 
will not hear of Star-routes in the postal service of the 
country under his administration. [Cheers.] 

"I will tell you what we need — Democrats and Eepubli- 
cans will alike agree upon that — we need to have the books 
in the government offices opened for examination. [Cheers 
and cries, *That is it.'] Do you think that men in this age 
never yield to temptation? [Laughter.] It is only two 
weeks ago that one of the Secretaries at Washington called 
upon the Senate Committee to testify in regard to the condi- 
tion of his department and in that department was the bu- 
reau of medicine and surgery. In that de[)artment an ex- 
amination was being had by a committe from the Senate 
and it was ascertained by the oath of the Secretary that sits 
at the head of the department that the defalcation found 
during last year, as far as it had been estimated, was $()3,- 
000, and when asked about it he said that he had received a 
letter a year ago informing him of some of these outrages, 
and a short time since somebody had come to him and told 
him there were frauds going on in the service, but mem- 
bers of Congress had recommended a continuance of the 
head of the bureau with such earnestness that he thouirht 
it must be all right, and now it turns out that the public is 
$63,000 out and how much more no man can tell. 

"But what is the remedy? To have a President that will 
appoint heads of bureaus that will investigate the condition 
of the books and bring all the guilty parties to trial. 
[Cheers and cries of 'That is it.'] My fellow citizens, I 
believe for such duty as this, for the purj^ose of maintain- 



24:6 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

ing the United States government for the people of this 
country, 1 can commend to your confidence Gov. Cleveland 
of New York. [Great cheering.] Not long since there 
were troubles in the local government of the city of Buf- 
falo, and the conservative people of that city maintained 
Gov. Cleveland as a candidate for Mayor, not upon the 
party ticket, but upon a citizen's ticket with the duty as- 
signed to him of correcting the evils that prevailed in the 
government of the city of Buffalo. He was elected and en- 
tered upon the duties of the office and made corrections in 
the management of affairs of that city so clearly, so well 
defined that the people of New York took him up and made 
him Governor of the State, and that is the wav he comes 
before you now. [Cries of 'Hurrah for Cleveland !'] He 
who corrects all evils in a badly administered city, and who 
goes from that service into the affairs of the State govern- 
ment and makes corrections there, will then step into the 
national office and, proceeding into the affairs of the govern- 
ment, bring about reforms there. [Great cheering.] 

'*My fellow citizens, I did not intend to speak this long 
to you. [Loud cries of ' Go ahead ' and *Keep it up.'] 
The Convention of Chicago did not realize all that we ex- 
pected. For myself I had no expectations. In no respect and 
in no sense was I a candidate for any office whatever. We 
did not realize all that we expected, but I believe that is the 
fate of humanity almost everywhere and under almost every 
circumstance. But have we realized that that should en- 
courage us to make an effort for good government? [Cries 
of * That is the beginning.'] Not that I want the office to 
which I was nominated, for you know that I did not desire 
that, but somebody must be nominated for Vice-President 
to run on a ticket w^ith the candidate for President, and 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 247 

when the ticket is presented to you, you are called upon to 
pass judgment upon it in respect to its merits throughout. 
[Cheers and cries of 'Yes' and 'We will support it.'] That 
is the question — will you support it? [Cheers and cries of 
*We will.'] And in asking that question I want to ask you 
another: Do you not, nil of you. Democrats and Republi- 
cans, believe that the affairs of the government have been 
long enough in the hands of one set of men? [Cries of 
* We do,'] and do you not all believe that we have reached 
a period when there ought to be a change? [Cries of ' We 
do,'] and ['We will have it.'] I do not ask that all shall 
be turned out. That is not the idea. If a man has done 
his duty well and faithfully; if he has not used the powers 
of his office to disturb the rights of the people ; if he has 
not furnished money to corrupt elections; if he has simply 
confined himself to the duties of his ofiice, I am not clam- 
oring for his official blood. But my fellow citizens of these 
120,000 men that now fill official positions in the country, 
we have no right to suppose from all that has taken place, 
that they are all honest, [cheers and laughter], and the only 
way that we can know is to make a change. A month ago 
everybody supposed that all the employes in the Bureau of 
Medicine and Surgery were honest, and now at the very 
first examination it turns out that they are not. But what 
is the remedy? Put them out and put honest men in. 
[Cheers and cries of ' That is it.'] We cannot do that if 
we leave the same President and heads of departments and 
heads of bureaus in. I have every confident faith that this 
ticket will be elected. [Cries of ' So have I.'] I think I 
know something about Indiana. [Great cheers and laugh- 
ter.] We will probably stand here together, won't we? 
[Cries of 'You bet!'] And this banner of liberty, of 



248 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

right, of justice, of fair government, that has been put in 
the hands of Cleveland and Hendricks, shall be carried and 
placed in glorious triumph on top of the National Capitol 
November next. [Great cheering and cries of ' We will 
put it there.'] Shall this be the people's banner? [Cries 
of * it is ! '] You have no interest except in good govern- 
ment, too, and I think I have none. I have lived among you 
a good while, I have tried to secure your confidence and to 
preserve it, [cries of ' You have it, too,'] and all I ask of 
you is your support, not for myself, but for yourselves and 
for your children and all people that are interested in good 
government. [Cheers.] 

*'N{)W, I have spoken longer than I intended. [Cries of 
*Go on' and 'We are not tired of you.'] I know when any 
of my Republican friends who are intending to stand by 
their party still longer, shall see this numerous crowd here 
to-night, they will think the doom of fate has come at last. 
[Cheers and laughter.] Why, I happened up the street a 
few weeks ago ; it was just after Blaine and Logan were 
nominated, and I saw a little gathering of very honest and 
honorable people, behaving themselves exceedingly well 
and very quiet, and Gen. Harrison was delivering a speech 
about nominations made at Chicago [loud laughter] and 
really if you were to bring that crowd here and drop it 
right down amongst you you would not miss it at all. 
[Great cheers and laughter.] What docs it mean? Tt 
means that the people intend to have reform [cheers] and 
that is the watchword that is written upon every Demo- 
cratic banner. It was written upon the Democratic banner 
eight years ago, and Tildcn and Hendricks carried that 
banner[cheers], ])ut reform was defeated by defeating the 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 249 

right of the people to elect their own ruler [cheers,] and 
what is the consequence? 

**There has been no reduction of public expenditures. 
Although the war is all the while passing further and fur- 
ther away from us, still this Republican party makes no 
reduction in public expenditures. Shall w'e have it? Shall 
we have a good government? Shall we have lower taxes? 
They tell us that the government can be well carried on for 
one hundred million dollars less than is now collected from 
the public. If Cleveland shall come into presidential 
office I believe he will bring expenditures down to the last 
dollar that will support the government economically ad- 
ministered [cheers], and then when he does that he will 
have accomplished what Gen. Jackson said was the duty of 
any government. A government has not the right to col- 
lect a dollar from the people except what is necessary to 
meet the public service. [Cheers and cries of 'That is 
right.'] Whatever a government needs she has a right to 
come to me, or to you, or to all of us, and make us pay 
for it. But when she gets all that she needs for an eco- 
nomical administration she has no right to take another 
sixpence out of our pockets, and this is all we ask. When 
this ticket shall triumph that idea will be established in 
this country. [Cheers.] 

*'I thank you very much for the attention you have given 
me. I ask you simply that as citizens interested in all 
that interests any of us, that you will give your attention 
to this campaign and never cease proper effort and just ef- 
fort until your Democratic banner with the Democi'jitic 
principle, reform jind cheap government, waves in all the 
skies above your heads." [Cheers.] 



250 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OE 



CHAPTER IX. 

A CONTROVERSY PRECIPITATED. 



LONG CONTINUED FRAUDS. LEGITIMATE MATTER FOR COMMENT. 

FALSE AND FRIVOLOUS. BUREAU OF MEDICINE FRAUDS. 

NO ADEQUATE ACTION TAKEN. LONG CONTINUED PECULATION. 

A DRUNKEN CLERK RETAINED. A NEW CHIEF CLERK DETER- 
MINED ON. SENATOR MCPHERSON'S LETTER. A NON-POLITI- 
CAL OFFICE. THE PETITION FOR RE-APPOINTMENT. DR. 

WALES' GOOD CHARACTER. WHERE THE LIE COMES IN. A NAT- 
URAL CONCLUSION. THE REPUBLICAN SENATORS. OLD AND 

HONORABLE. SUPPRESSED BY BILL CHANDLER. WHAT SENA- 
TOR BKCKSAYS. HE PROVES CHANDLER'S MENDACITY. CON- 
GRESSIONAL WANT OF CONFIDENCE IN CHANDLER. A LAME 

ATTEMPT. A HIGH OFFICE DISGRACED. A PARTY SHAME. 

The assertion of Mr. Hendricks concerning the long 
continued frauds in the Navy Department, the knowledge of 
which frauds had for some days been public property, and 
which were certainly legitimate matter for any citizen to 
comment upon, called forth the following letter from Secre- 
tary Chandler, a worthy followerof his predecessor, Robeson. 
Even if the letter were entirely true it is far from being a 
defence, but it has not even the merit of truth, as we shall 
show. It is so unimportant a document that were it not 
necessary to preserve the sequence we would not trouble 
our readers with it. He says: 

Thomas A. Ilendriclcs^ Esq. 

*'Sir; a candidate for Vice-President should speak with 
decent fairness. In your speech at Indianopolis, last Satur- 
day night, you made statements from which you meant that 
the public should believe that it appeared by my testimony 
that the frauds in the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery of 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 251 

this department amounted, during the past year, to $G3,000; 
that I was informed of some of these outrages a year ago ; 
that after I was informed of the frauds I disbelieved them, 
because members of Congress had recommended the contin- 
uance of the Chief of the Bureau and that I took no ade- 
quate action concerning them ; whereupon you demanded the 
election of a President wlio would appoint a Chief of the 
Bureau who would investigate the condition of the books 
and bring all the guilty parties to trial. To the contrary 
of all this, I testified that the suspected vouchers com- 
menced as far back as June 21, 1880, although a small 
voucher was paid as late as Jan. 25, 1884; that while an 
annoymous letter of about a year ago charged drunkenness 
upon the Chief Clerk, Daniel Carrigan, which the Chief of the 
Bureau, Dr. Philip S. Wales, reported to me was not true, 
I had no information leading to the frauds until December 
or January last ; that I determined simultaneously with 
beo^innino: investio^ation to have a new Chief of the Bureau in 
the place of Dr. Wales, whose term was to expire Jan. 26, 
and also a new Chief Clerk ; that great opposition to the 
change was made by members of Congress, but I persisted 
and Dr. Wales went out on that date. Carrigan was put 
out Feb. 4 and the investigation of frauds and arrest of 
guilty parties have since proceeded with due diligence. 

*'It is true that I stated that the recommendations for re- 
appointment of Dr. Wales, whom I found in office when I 
went in, April 7, 1882, were of such a character as to fully 
justify me in believing that the affairs of his Bureau had 
been well administered. Senator McPherson wrote to the 
President as follows under date of Dec. 18, 1883: 

** *Sir: As the term of office of Surgeon-General Wales, 
of t'je Navy Department, is soon to expire, and considering 



252 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

it not a political office, I presume, as I am a perfect prodi- 
gal with the article of advice, to ask, for the good of every- 
body and everything relating to that service, that you re- 
appoint him. I do this because he is an excellent officer, 
having ability and energy, qualities not general in the naval 
service, and which I think should be nourished when dis- 
covered. I feel sure if any officer has deserved such 
recognition from the appointing power by reason of faithful 
and efficient service in the past, that officer is Surgeon-Gen- 
eral Wales.' 

**A petition for reappointment, written by Carrigan, was 
sent to the President, headed by J. G. Carlisle, followed by 
Phil. B. Thompson, jr., Leopold Morse, R. H. M. Davidson, 
D. Wyatt Aiken, William McAdoo, George D. Wise, John 
C. Nicholls, P. A. Collins, H. B. Lovering, Robert B. 
Vance, D. W. Connolly, Charles B. Love, George A. Post, 
Albert L. Willis, Carieton Hunt, G. W. Hewitt, William 
H. Fiedler and other Rrepresentatives in Congress, saying 
of Dr. Wales: 'He has administered the affairs of the bu- 
reau during the last four years with signal ability and 
success.' United States Senators McPherson, Butler, 
Brown, Colquitt, Beck, Williams, C. W. Jones, Ransom 
and thirty-two other Senators, also using Carrigan as their 
writer, petitioned for Dr. Wales' reappointment, stating 
that 'his administrative capacity has been fully demonstrated 
by the successful management of the Bureau of which he 
now has charge.' 

"Senator Mc Pherson, Speaker Carlisle and others of the 
most prominent of these gentlemen who demanded Dr. 
Wales' reappointment, were with you in the Convention at 
Chicago, and could have informed you that he had borne a 
good reputation; that the law re(|uired that the Chief of the 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 253 

Bureau should be a naval surgeon, and placed the medical 
expenditures in his hands ; that his was in no sense a politi- 
cal office, but that if he had any politics he was a Demo- 
crat; and that any attempt to make political capital out of 
frauds for which this naval surgeon, who is their intimate 
friend, is solely responsible, would be disingenious and un- 
fair. That they did not succeed in keeping Dr. Wales and 
his Chief Clerk, Carrigan, in office is very fortunate." 

One would naturally conclude from this letter that the 
Democrats alone had insisted upon his retaining in office 
guilty parties. The facts in the case are these: 

It seems that thirty-two Republican Senators signed 
the petition requesting the retention of Dr. Wales as Chief 
of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery of the Navy De- 
partment. The thirty-two Republican United States Sena- 
tors signed the petition before it was presented to the 
Democratic Senators, who signed it at the request of Sena- 
tor Anthony of Rhode Island, who carried it around the 
Senate Chamber. Mr. Anthony is the oldest member of 
the Senate, and a very honorable man. Bill Chandler, in 
answering Hendricks' speech, suppressed the names of the 
Republicans who asked for Wales' retention, giving only 
the names of the Democrats, thereby trying to make it 
appear as if none but Democrats urged Dr. Wales' retention. 

Senator Beck, in referring to Chandler's letter, said to- 
day: "Why, he lies. He doesn't tell all the facts. He 
said that I and other Democratic members of Congress 
demanded Dr. Wales' appointment, but omits to state that 
Senator Anthony, the oldest and most honored of all the 
Republican Senators, was the first name on the petition. 
He presented the petition to me and all the other Demo- 



254 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

crats who signed it. There were thirtj^-two Republican 
Senators on the paper. Why did not Mr. Chandler tell 
that? I did sign the paper, and would do it again to-day. 
Dr. Wales is an honorable man, high in his profession, and 
high in all the social walks of life. He is not perhaps as 
good a detective as Mr. Chandler. He signed those vouch- 
ers when presented to him, believing they were correct. If 
Mr. Chandler stood as well to-day as Dr. Wales, he could 
have got all the supplies necessary for the American Navy, 
but Congress had no confidence in his integrity, and refused 
the money. I repeat that Dr. Wales is an honorable man. 
Thirty-two Eepublican Senators said so, and I say so. He 
is far above Mr. Chandler in every respect." 

So much for the lame attempt at an excuse manufactured 
by this despicable creature, who disgraces a high official 
station, and whose mendacity and inefficiency — if it is noth- 
ing worse — disgrace the party that places such cattle in 
office. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 255 



CHAPTER X. 

didn't know it avas loaded. 



A PROMPT REPLY. AN EMBRYO LETTER WRITER SQUELCHED. 

VAN BUllEN'S MAXIM. CHANDLER'S BELIEF IN IT. MR. HEN- 
DRICKS' LETTER. A CASE CITED. CHANDLER ADMITS THE 

THEFT. AN IMPOTENT DEFENCE. ALLOWING THEFT TO CON- 
TINUE. UNANSWERABLE QUESTIONS. THE CASE MADE BLACK- 
ER. NOTIFIED BUT QUIESCENT. PRIVY TO THE FRAUDS. 

SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES NOT PROPERLY INVESTIGATED. 

GUILTY PARTIES SHIELDED. DETECTIVE WOOD'S OPINION OF 

CHANDLER. LAME METHODS OF EXCUSE. A DOWNRIGHT 

FALSEHOOD. CHANDLER PROVED GUILTY. A COMPANION 

CASE. A SNIPING EXPEDITION. '^PUDDING" EDWARDS AS A 

PRACTICAL JOKER. ACTING THE DESPERADO. THE BLUNDER- 
BUS FIRED. KICKED INTO THE DITCH. A PICTURE OF FRIGHT. 

UTTERLY INCONSOLABLE. THE MOAN OF THE JOKER. • 

PIGMY AGAINST GIANT. 

Mr. Hendricks' reply to Secretary Chandler was prompt, 
conclusive and terrible in its effect. It shrivelled up the 
embryo public letter-writer, and to-day little Chandler 
swears by that pet maxim of crafty Van Buren that "he 
would rather cross the Atlantic in one of his job-work mon- 
itors to see a man than to write him a letter," especially if 
the man be Thomas A. Hendricks. The epistle that so 
sadly and suddenly nipped in the bud his aspirations as a 
writer of campaign documents, was as follows: 

** Indianapolis, July 14, 1884. 
Hon. W. E. Chandler; Sir — I find in the newspapers 
this morning a letter to me from yourself, written yesterday 
and circulated through the Associated Press. You complain 
that I did you injustice in my address to the people of this 
city, made the evening before. In that address I urged we 
need have the books in the government offices opened for 



256 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

examination, and, as an illustration, I cited the case of 
fraudulent vouchers in one of the Bureaus of your depart- 
ment, and that upon your testimony before the sub-Com- 
mittee of the Senate it appeared that the frauds amounted 
to $()3,000, and is not every word of that true? You were 
broui^ht before a committee and testified as I stated. You 
admitted under oath that the sum of money lost amounted 
to $1)3,000, but your defense was that the embezzlement did 
not wholly occur under your administration, but part of it 
was under that of your predecessor. It seems to have 
covered a period from June 21, 1880, down to January 15, 
1884. Does that help your case? You were at the head of 
the department a year and nine months of that period. 
Your predecessor about one year and ten months. He was 
in office at the payment of the first false voucher, January 
21, 1880, and up to April 17, 1882, when you came in, and 
you continued thence until the last false voucher was paid, 
January 25, 1884. The period was almost equally divided 
between yourself and your predecessor. How much of the 
$63,000 was paid out under yourself and how much under 
your predecessor your letter does not show. But, sir, up- 
on the question that I was discussing does it make any dif- 
ference who was Secretary when the false vouchers were 
paid? I urged that cases like this, when frauds are con- 
cealed in the vaults or in the books of the department the 
only remedy of the people is by change of control, so that 
the books and vouchers shall come under examination 
of new and disinterested men. Do you think I am an- 
swered when you say I was mistaken in supposing that in 
this case the frauds were all under your administration, 
when, in fact, a part of them extended back into that of 
your predecessor? Why, sir, that makes your case worse. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 257 

For the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery defalcation is 
large; but the more serious fact is that it could and did ex- 
tend through two administrations of the department, a 
period of nearly four years, without detection. But it be- 
comes more serious, so far as you are individually con- 
cerned, when the fact is considered that you had notice and 
yet took no sufficient action. 

"The information upon which I spoke was from Wash- 
ington the 26th of the present month, by the Associated 
Press, the same that brings me your letter. The Associa- 
ted Press obtained its information either in your depart- 
ment or from an investigating committee. If you were not 
correctly reported, that was the time for complaint and cor- 
rection. You testified that *the total suspicious vouchers 
discovered so far was about $03,000, and that money fraud- 
ulently obtained was in some instances divided between the 
watchman in the department, Corrigan, Chief Clerk, and 
Kirk wood, in charge of accounts.' Now what notice had 
you? According to the Associated Press report of your 
testimony, you received a letter last year charging Corrigan, 
one of the parties, with drunk:enness, and after that man 
came to you and told you that Kirkwood and Corrigan were 
engaged in frauds. Did not that put you upon notice and 
investigation? You testified that some inquiry was made 
and the conclusion was that while there were some suspi- 
cious circumstances, they did not warrant the conclusion of 
guilt. After notice, verbal and in writing, you left the 
men in office. You did not brino; the frauds to ligfht nor 
the guilty parties to punishment. It was Government De- 
tective Wood who discovered the frauds, and the Associa- 
ted Press report says Wood declared he would have no 



258 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

further dealings with your department, but would press the 
investigation before Congress. 

"What is your next excuse? Worse, if possible, than all 
before. You say a large number of Congressmen, includ- 
ing some gentlemen of great influence and position, recom- 
mended that the head of the Bureau, Dr. Wales, should be 
reappointed. Members of Congress knew nothing of the 
frauds — they had no opportunity to know it. It was within 
your reach and duty. They were probably his personal 
friends; you were his official superior. But, in fact, did 
you reappoint him.? I understand not. Perhaps a detec- 
tive discovered the frauds too soon, but Dr. Wales was not 
one of the three guilty parties. He neither forged vouchers 
nor embezzled money. His responsibility in the case is just 
the same as your owm. He was the official superior of three 
rogues, as you were of himself, ;\s well as them. Neither 
he nor yourself exposed the frauds or punished the parties. 
I have not thought of or considered this as a case of politic. 
Addressing my neighbors, I said that this and like cases ad- 
monish them to demand civil-service reform in the removal 
of all from office who will not seek to promote it in the 
sphere of their official duty and authority. 

Respectfully, 

[Signed] T. A. HENDRICKS." 

The writer can call to mind but a single comparison for 
the abject and pitiable condition of William E. Chandler 
when this letter was made public, and at the risk of giving 
a severe test to the patience of the reader, he will relate it. 

When but a small boy, in Washington City, it was the 
habit of quite a number of us to go out to "the Slashes" to 
kill frogs, snipe and other "game." One of the hangers-on 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 259 

of the party was a young fellow who gloried in the appella- 
tion of * 'Pudding" Edwards, and who never lost an oppor- 
tunity of playing a practical joke. On one occasion, when 
we were out on an expedition, Bill Morgan had his single 
barrel gun along, a miserable, boyish affair, that was of 
doubtful utility, but which kicked like a trick-mule. 

Seeing Billy Clayton, a gentlemanly looking boy, now a 
resident of Rome, Georgia, coming along some distance off, 
and on the opposite side of a row of bushes, *'Pudding" 
proposed to take the gun and frighten him by snapping a 
cap at him as he passed. Pretending to see quite a joke in 
this, we hurried ** Pudding" off to a steep bank overhang- 
ing a muddy ditch, after whispering Morgan to ram in a big 
load. This was hastily done, a handful of powder being 
poured in and half a newspaper rammed in on top of it. 

All the time, from under the bank, Morgan kept up a 
running conversation, asking how near Clayton was, and pre- 
tending to be hunting for a cap for the gun. At last every- 
thing was fixed, the gun was handed up to "Pudding" who 
assumed a tragic attitude and just as Clayton was passing, 
roared out, in true desperado style, '*Halt !" 

Without waiting to see if his mandate was obeyed, he 
pulled the trigger of the gun, which he had already 
cocked. As the hammer decended there was a terrific ex- 
plosion—a cross between a California earthquake and the 
bursting of a saw-mill boiler — the gun whizzed over "Pud- 
ding's" shoulder and he was kicked backward into the muddy 
water of the ditch, completely disappearing from sight. 

Almost dying with laughter, we fished him out of the 
mire and began examining his shoulder to see if it was not 
crushed into splinters. Such a picture of fright and astonish- 
ment is but seldom seen, and pitying hisforlorn condition, we 



260 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

proposed for him to go on with us out to Rock Creek where 
we would take a swim and aid him in washing his clothes, 
which, as may be surmised, sadly needed it. With a dazed 
look, as if he did not know what calamity might next over- 
take him, he declined all consolation and departed home- 
ward holding his right cheek in his left hand and moaning 

**I didn't know it was loaded, I didn't know it was loaded." 
It is safe to venture the assertion that the next time Billy 

Chandler attempts to meddle with a reform champion he 

will first assertain if he is loaded. To warn him against the 

folly of matching his pigmy wit against the mighty brain of 

Mr. Hendricks, we will give him the information that the 

latter is not only always loaded, but is hair triggered and 

unfailing in his aim. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 261 



CHAPTER XI. 

BOB BURDETTE AND MR. HENDRICKS. 



'CENTAL AND ENTERTAINING. A CHARACTERISTIC ANECDOTE. THE 

ONLY MR. HENDRICKS. DINING WITH THE GOVERNOR. STRIK- 
ING A CANDIDATE FOR A LOAN. BURDETTE OUT LECTURING. A 

PLEASANT MEETING. DINING AT WORMLEY'S. INTRODUCED TO 

MR. HENDRICKS. A WRITER OF POETRY. rA RETENTIVE MEM- 
ORY. A BEWITCHING SMILE. A HAYES NEWSPAPER. '"'A 

LITTLE POEM." '' THERE WAS AN OLD HOOSIER." DID NOT 

REMEMBER. A SAD STATE OF EMBARRASSMENT. WORSE AND 

MORE OF IT. CAMPAIGN RHYMES QUOTED. A THOROUGHLY 

DISGUSTED AUTHOR. BOUND TO THE STAKE. NOT VERY 

WELL. A PLEASANT GOOD BYE. THE SEARCH FORWORMLEY. 

A HEARTY LAUGH. '' GO TO BURLINGTON! " WANTED TO 

DIE IN PEACE. MISSING A CHANCE. THE ZEALOUS PREACHER, 

A MEDDLESOME BROTHER. '*IF IT AIN'T THERE IT OUGHT 

TO BE." 

In social life no man is more genial and entertaining than 
Gov. Hendricks, and certainly no one can extract more fun 
from a given situation than he can. As an illustration of 
this trait we will give an anecdote furnished by Bob Bur- 
dette, of the ** Burlington Hawkey e," to the "Brooklyn 
Eagle." The only comment we shall make upon it is, that 
it is very characteristic of the Indiana statesman: 

" Do you know, I have a very, very pleasant recollec- 
tion of Mr. Hendricks? The only Mr. Hendricks in the 
world, just now, of course. I never met him but once, and 
then I had the honor of dining with him. 

I do not mention this fact in order to create the impres- 
sion that I am on easy, familiar terms with all the candi- 
dates in this Presidential campaign. I fear I am not. If 
I wanted $500 to-morrow — and I probably will; at least I 



262 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

want it to-clay, and I am not the man to change my con- 
victions on financial matters in twenty-four hours — I do not 
know a single candidate for President or Vice-President 
whom I could, so to speak, strike for that amount. 

Well, Mr. Hendricks had the honor of dining with Me — 
that is, we dined with each other. It was this way. I had 
been lecturing, after the * count' of 1876, out in the vast, 
free, glorious West. I was hastening home to Burlington, 
over the C, B. &Q. On that same day Mr. Hendricks was 
on his way to California. Both day trains on the Q. road 
dined at Wormley's, at Chariton, Iowa. Mr. Wormley met 
me at the door of the dining-room with even more than 
usual cordiality. He said to me : 

"Good. I have company for you to-day. Come right 
over to this table." 

I followed him and faced a gentleman so much better 
looking than his campaign portraits that I did not recognize 
Mr. Hendricks until we were introduced. His face was very 
attractive. His manner no less charming. I was pleased 
that fate had cast me in his way. That is, I was at first. 
He was so pleasant. I liked him. Early in the course of 
a brilliant conversation about the weather, he said: 

"You are the young gentleman who writes the poetry on 
the 'Hawkeye,' I believe." And you never saw a more be- 
witching smile on a man's face. 

Now, that was the very thing I didn't want to talk about. 
I had been writing whole pages of campaign "poetry," they 
call it, in the 'Hawkeye,' but, you understand, that excellent 
family paper wasn't exactly a Democratic paper. Not just 
what you'd call a Democratic paper. At least, it was no 
more Democratic than the most rantankerous, rally' round 
the flag, boys, third term, Hays and the whole ticket Re- 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 263 

publican paper of Republican Iowa, could be expected to 
be. It was just about as Democratic as the '*Eagle" is Re- 
publican. And I knew what kind of ''poetry" I had been 
writing. I fidgeted a little, poured a spoonful of sugar in 
my soup, and owned up that I was the man. Then I asked 
him how long he expected to remain in California. 

He told me, and then said: "There was one little 
poem" — now, see how kind he was — he called it a poem. 
"There was one little poem you wrote beginning: 'There 
was an old Hoosier as I've heard tell' — now, how did the 
rest of that go?" 

Go? It went for him, tooth, claw and toe-nail, and I 
knew it. J feebly said: "I don't remember" emptied the 
salt into my coffee, and "hoped he would find rest and re- 
turning health in California." I also hoped that I would 
die in a few moments, but I didn't say so. He thanked me 
in his courteous manner for the wish I expressed, and then 
went on. 

"There was another, a good one; I can recollect only 
the second stanza ; how did the first one run?" 

And therewith he quoted a few lines of one of the 
meanest things I ever wrote about any man. While he 
quoted my prize poem, pretending to forget the stanza that 
referred to himself, I was confused, but I seemed abstracted, 
as I spread five very thick layers of mashed potato on my 
folded napkin, under the impression that I was spreading a 
piece of bread and butter. I said I wasn't very well when 
I wrote that one, and had quite forgotten it. Then I at- 
tempted to wipe the cold-beaded perspiration from my brow 
with that napkin, and added to my embarrassment, I must 
have appeared embarrassed or eccentric, I am sure. 

Well, the long and short of it is, Mr. Hendricks re- 



264 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

memberecl every mean poem I had written about Mr. Tilden 
and himself during that bitter campaign, and he could quote 
just enough of the innocent, good-natured lines of each one 
to show me that he had read it. I never saw a man with 
such a memory. I hope he enjoyed his dinner. I think he 
did. He ate heartily and smiled good-naturedly all the 
time, and he bade me good-bye very pleasantly. I am con- 
fident I showed off to good advantage. If I did, I dis- 
sembled. I didn't feel that way at all. But I didn't run. 
I sat there and took my punishment like a man. When Mr. 
Hendricks went to his train I arose and sought Mr. Worm- 
ley, to tell him about it. He was lying on the floor behind 
the cifi^ar counter wheezino^ and chokino; like a man who is 
trying to laugh himself to death. I began to get mad. I 
said: 

^*See here, Mr. Wormley" — 

He feebly motioned me away. **Train time," he gasped. 
*'Go to Burlington ; go away. Let me die in peace." 

I turned away and got on my train. I did wrong. I 
ought to have licked Wormley while he was helpless. It 
was the only chance I ever had. And I never dined again 
with Mr. Hendricks." 

Served you quite right, Mr. Burdette, for devoting your 
talents to the service of such '*smalldeer" as Hayes and 
Wheeler. An earnest old Methodist preacher in the back- 
woods of Indiana, more noted for his zeal and goodness 
than for his education, once made an apt quotation from 
Milton and credited it to the Bible, whereupon a more 
learned brother told him there was no such text in the Bi- 
ble. *'If there ain't there ought to be," said the sturdy 
old fellow and he went on with his sermon. So we say of 
Burdette' s anecdote, "If it never happened it ought to 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 265 

have happened," for the joke was a good enough one to 
have occurred. 

Fond as he is of a good joke, however, Mr. Hendricks 
is one of the kindliest of men and could never descend to 
participate in a practical joke or any piece of fun that 
could injure the feelings of another. He might rejoice in 
the confusion into which he had thrown the guileless poet 
of the "Hawkeye," and if the scene ever occurred — and no 
doubt something approximating it did — it must have been 
a very enjoyable one. We believe there are but few of the 
gentlest of Christians who would not smile at this kindly 
and innocent manner of "getting even" with an antago- 
nist. 



26^ LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER XII. 

BEMINISCENCES OF MR. HENDRICKS' YOUTH. 



A FRIENDLY DESCRIPTION OF MR. HENDRICKS. HIS HEIGHT AND 

CONTOUR. A PLEASANT FACE. OLD STYLE WHISKERS THE 

MERIDIAN OF LIFE A LIFE-LONG FRIEND MR. HENDRICKS' 

CHILDHOOD. HIS FIRST SCHOOL. THE YOUNG OX-DRIVER. 

THE EMBRYO LAWYER. HIS FATHER'S TAN-YARD. GOES TO 

HANOVER COLLEGE. READS LAW IN PENNSYLVANIA. THE 

TWO MAJORS. COxMPANIONS AND RIVALS. HANGING OUT 

THEIR SHINGLES. A PETTY LAW SUIT. THE VOLUNTEER AT- 
TORNEYS. FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS IN ATTENDANCE. TAKING 

HIS FEE IN APPLES. EARLY PECULIARITIES. THE PROPER 

SELECTION. THE CHILD THE FATHER OF THE MAN. NO ORDIN- 
ARY MAN. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS. THE GOLDEN AGE OF 

THE REPUBLIC. A NOBLE RECORD. A LIFE LESSON. THE 

PEOPLE'S ADVOCATE. DEATHLESS AND ENDURING MONUMENTS. 

■ A personal description, which has so far been omitted, 
of the man who is to be the next Vice-President of our Re- 
public, may prove of interest to the reader, and will be 
here given. This description is that of a friend of the 
Governor, who has known him intimately for years and who 
has the greatest admiration for the grand old man. 

*'Mr. Hendricks," he says, ** is five feet nine inches 
high, and weighs one hundred and eighty-five pounds. His 
body is compact and strongly built. His head is large and 
moderately covered with sandy hair, freely intermingled 
with gray. His eyes are gray his nose large and prominent, 
and his mouth and chin are shapely and very expressive. 
His complexion is fair and inclined to freckle. He wears 
no beard, except a small quantity near the ear. The con- 
tour of his face and form denotes strength and solidity, and 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 267 

no judge of physiognomy will ever mistake him for an 
ordinary man. 

'*He may be said to be in the youth of old age, for whereas 
his step is as firm and his voice as resonant as that of a man of 
30, he is past the meridian of life. Good habits and a 
strong constitution are his, and these combines so mix youth 
and old age that it is impossible to tell where one ends and 
the other begins. 

** Such is Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, one of the 
foremost men of the country." 

Another friend of the Governor, who now owns the old 
Hendricks' homestead, contributes the following reminis- 
cences of the boyhood and youth of the statesman, in a 
letter dated at Shelbyville. He has known the Governor 
since childhood. 

'* Thomas A. Hendricks was brought to Shelby county by 
his parents in the spring of 1822, being then a child two 
years old. When he reached the proper age, he went to 
school in the winter and in the summer worked on his fath- 
er's farm. 

" He first attended school in a little school-house which 
stood on the lot where the seminary now is; his teacher 
being a Mrs. Kent. When his father built on the hill, east 
of town, Thomas drove the oxen which hauled the material. 

*' Jerry Weakly says that Thomas was in the habit of ar- 
guing imaginary law cases as he walked to and from school. 
After he left Hanover Colles^e, he went to a law school in 
Pennsylvania, and when he was through his studies, came 
home and commenced to practice law. 

*' I think he was too young when his father quit the tan- 
ning business to have done much work in the tanyard." 

Another gentleman who knew Governor Hendricks in 



268 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

early life, tells the following anecdote of his first case in 
court: 

*' Major Powell and Major Hendricks were neighbors and 
leading men of their day. Nathan, a son of the former, 
and Thomas, a son of the latter, grew up together, finished 
their educations about the same time, and opened their law 
offices within a few days of each other. Soon after hang- 
ing out their shingles, a petty case was to be tried before 
Esquire Lee, and the young attorneys volunteered to appear 
in it, one on either side. When the trial came off, the 
Squire's office was filled with the friends of the young bar- 
risters, anxious to hear their maiden speeches, and a lot of 
fine apples were procured and held ready to be given to him 
who won the case. Hendricks won it and received the 
apples, which he generously divided among his friends." 

Early in life the peculiarities of Mr. Hendricks' talent 
took form and thus he was guided into the profession of 
all others for which he was best qualified by nature. In all 
the vicissitudes of political fortune he returns again to his 
first love, the law, and always with unbounded success. 
The boy walking back and forth, to and from the country 
school-house and arguing, in an imaginary court, suppositi- 
tious law cases, is the father and the prototype of the man, 
who has shone so brilliantly in forensic contests in the legal 
arena, and who, in the halls of the national Legislature, has 
argued the grander laws of government and reform. 

To look at the calm grandeur of Mr. Hendricks' face in 
his maturity — a face that conveys to all who meet him the 
impression that he is no ordinary man — one cannot but 
wonder if the face of the youth did not, in like manner, im- 
press the beholder with the idea of his superiority to his 
comrades and his surroundings. This, however, could 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 269 

hardly have been, or his words and actions would have been 
carefully noted and remembered, and there would be an 
ample store of anecdotes and materials for his biographers. 

It is true that his maturer years teem with such materials; 
great speeches that thrilled the nation; bold battling against 
corruption, tyranny and evil legislation, and a grand patriot- 
ism that recalls the noble simplicity of the golden age of the 
Republic, but the boyish whims and fancies, the aspirations 
of youth, and even the actions and indications of childhood 
— topics of undying interest to the popular mind — have al- 
most entirely escaped the recording pencils of friends and 
admirers. 

The public life of such a man, however, is not without its 
paramount interest, especially to those who are just growing 
into manhood's estate, since it is a bold and unbroken record 
of honor, honesty and ability. From its open pages, that 
do not fear investigation, nor dread the searching gaze of 
truth, may be conned a lesson of inestimable worth. Here 
we may read the legislation of a statesman, the nobility of 
an honest man and the deathless devotion of the purest 
patriotism. 

Can the youth of the present day learn nothing from the 
life of this man of the people, this advocate of justice and 
equality, whose democracy is not in name alone, but is as 
broad as the universe, and deep as the boundless and fathom- 
less realms of space? Such a man is Thomas A. Hendricks, 
and though of his life's trivial incidents, that tickle the 
fancy and amuse for a brief space, we may not gather as 
many as we could wish, yet of the deathless and enduring 
monuments of his words and actions, thank heaven ! there 
is no dearth. 



270 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER XIII. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF MR. HENDRICKS. 



MR. HENDRICKS AS GOVERNOR. HIS PUBLIC RECEPTIONS. 



NEITHER NIGGARD NOR EXTRAVAGANT. HIS OFFICIAL HOSPI- 
TALITY. HOARDING AT THE BATES HOUSE. THE OLD LAW 

FIRM. THE HOME ON TENNESSEE STREET. CULTURE AND RE- 
FINEMENT. HAPPY SURROUNDINGS. AN IDEAL HOME. 

PURE AND PATRIOTIC. A CLEAN LIFE. A TRIP TO EUROPE. 

THE RECEPTION AT LONDON. DIVIDING THE HONORS. 



REVISITS EUROPE. AN OLDER NOT A BETTER CIVILIZATION. 

SEDUCTIONS OF COURTS. A PATRIOTIC DECLARATION. THE 

PRAIRIE CABIN. KING-CURSED COUNTRIES. HOME AGAIN. 

A PERFECT OVATION. THE SERENADE. SPEECHES AND 

FESTIVITIES. A GRAND OLD ROMAN. A PLEASANT EVENING. 

A WITTY TALKER. CHARMS LOST IN REPORTING. THE 

STIMULUS OF ANTAGONISM. AUTHOR AND FINANCIER. MR. 

HENDRICKS INTERRUPTED. THE SHRIEKING OF THE LOON. 

A STIRING ANECDOTE. A TEMPERATE MIND. 

When Mr Hendricks occupied the office of Chief Execu- 
tive of Indiana, he lived in good though not extravagant 
style, it being one of the characteristics of the man that he 
is not at all addicted to vanity or show. During the ses- 
sions of the Legislature, his public receptions were suffi- 
ciently frequent to display his hospitable nature, but these 
receptions were truly Democratic, in that they lacked the 
stiff formality and ceremoniousness that some officials en- 
deavor to give to every thing connected with public sta- 
tion. 

For some time after his retirement from office he and 
Mrs. Hendricks boarded at the Bates House in Indianapo- 
lis, having given up housekeeping. At this time it was 
that the Governor rejoined his old law firm, composed of 
ex-Governor Baker, Oscar B. Hurd, Abram W. Hendricks 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 271 

and himself. While at the Bates House, the hospitality of 
the Governor was as generous as ever, his reception rooms 
being open to all friends and callers. Eventually leaving 
the hotel, a plain substantial brick building on Tennessee 
street was selected as a home, and there is no more pleasant 
home in America. 

Everything that education, taste and refinement can add 
to native goodness and unbounded hospitality may be found 
here, and though externally there is nothing grand or im- 
posing about the house, yet that *'soul of the building," 
the inhabitants, gives to it the grand charms of geniality 
and culture. The pervading tone is one of morality and in- 
tellect, making it an ideal picture of domestic content and 
tranquil, abiding happiness. 

Is it wonderful that from such a domestic life Governor 
Hendricks carries forth into the arenas of law and politics a 
purity and wholesome cleanliness of conduct that are equal- 
ed by few public men? It is well that there are still such 
men, who challenge our admiration, not only for their 
public morals in the midst of the bribery, corruption and 
fraud that have, under Republican rule, become fashionable, 
but also merit the respect of all by a private life unstained 
even by the suspicion of guilt or shame. 

In the summer of 1877, Governor Hendricks was advised 
by his physician to make a trip to Europe as a relaxation 
from the cares of his profession, which had begun to make 
some inroads upon his robust constitution, and accompanied 
by his constant companion, his wife, he remained abroad 
for over two months. While in London, the pair attended 
the reception given by U. S. Minister Pierrepont to General 
Grant, and the great American statesman fairly divided the 
honors with the General. 



272 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Last winter Governor and Mrs. Hendricks again visited 
Europe, traveling extensively on the Continent, viewing 
intelligently and critically the older civilization of the Old 
World as compared with that of the American Eepublic. 
His patriotism withstood the seductions of the meretricious 
glare of courts and the flatteries of earth's grandest poten- 
tates and he often declares that *'a log cabin on one of the 
boundless prairies of the Great West is preferable to a 
palace in the freedom stifling atmosphere of King-cursed 
Europe." 

Returning in June to '*the home of the brave and the 
land of the free," the night after his arrival at his old home 
in Indianopolis he received a perfect ovation from his 
neighbors regardless of creed, sect, or politics. Preceded 
by a silver cornet band they marched in procession to his 
residence to welcome back the sage Ulysses, who had found 
no spot of earth so sweet as his old home. After a glori- 
ous serenade. Governor Hendricks made the crowd a speech 
in his ususl genial vein and ex-Senator McDonald, another 
grand old Roman, also addressed them. 

After the crowd had dispersed, a few chosen friends sat 
until the '*wee sma' hours," in genial converse and passed 
the time recalling the memories of *'auld long syne." It 
is in such a scene that the Governor is at his very best. 
Quaint conceits, entertaining anecdotes, apt quotations and 
fanciful word pictures follow each other in rapid succession 
when once the flood gates of his wit are opened. Malice itself 
could not withstand the sunny good nature and utter absence 
of anything spiteful or bitter in his droll raillery concerning 
men and matters. 

In the Governor's mode of telling an anecdote, or making 
a speech, there is a subtile charm of manner and delivery 



TH03IAS A. HENDRICKS. 273 

that utterly fail of being transmitted to paper. The notes 
of his speeches furnished to reporters are also wanting in 
the garnishment of anecdotes, witticism and extempo- 
raneous bursts of eloquence which, without marring its 
symmetry or destroying its balance, he injects into every 
speech. 

To this charm of mannerism, there is a cool readiness 
possessed by but few orators, and the opponent that hopes 
to confuse him by interruptions or questions will find that 
he has made a lamentable failure. It is under the stimulus 
of such unfair antagonism that some of the brightest and 
best points of his speeches have been called forth extempo- 
raneously. Of this fact Mr. William Wesley Woollen, the 
author and financier, gives the following illustration: 

*'In the summer of 1872 Mr. Hendricks was nominated 
by the Democracy for Governor of Indiana, and made an 
elaborate speech on accepting the nomination. The weather 
was intensely hot, and the windows of the building in which 
he spoke were lowered for the purpose of ventilation. 
Party spirit ran high at the time and some of his political 
enen^ies organized a plan to interrupt and annoy him. 

"A couple of drums and a fife were brought into requisi- 
tion and made to do duty in the dirty work. Negro musi- 
cians were employed to manipulate these instruments, and 
as this band, followed by a lot of rowdies, yelling for 
Morton, marched and countermarched past the house, the 
speaker's voice was completely drowned. 

"This greatly incensed his friends, and one of them arose 
to his feet and proposed to rally a force and 'clean out the 
niggers.' The proposition took like wildfire, and as the 
excited men were leaving to carry the project into execu- 
tion, Mr. Hendricks ran to the front of the platform as 



274 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

though he would jump to the parquet below, and when he 
reached its verge, exclaimed in his loudest tone: 'Let them 
alone. The loon shrieks the loudest when it hears the storm 
coming. The rowdy loons on the street hear the thunder 
of an outraged people and see the lightning of the coming 
storm. Let them shriek.* 

*'His words went to the nerve-centers like electricity from 
a battery. They tingled in the ears and made the blood 
run fast. At the moment some one shouted, 'Hurrah for 
Hendricks,' and 'Hurrah for Hendricks' shook the building 
from foundation to roof. The scene was one of the best 
illustrations of the power of words to sway the human mind 
ever witnessed in the country. The writer has heard many 
things that stirred the heart and made the blood gallop, but 
nothing that approximated in effect these words of Gov- 
ernor Hendricks." 

This incident shows the temperate evenness of Mr. Hen- 
dricks' mind as much as its brilliancy, and there is no rarer 
nor grander quality than that of moderation. Even in 
uttering the words, that could sway men's hearts as the 
storm bends the reeds, though the victim of a political out- 
rage he was the counseller of calmness and thus he turned 
what might have become a furious riot, into a proper scorn 
for the base methods of Radicalism, which has ever been 
characterized by sound rather than soundness, and by noise 
rather than argument and legitimate opposition. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 275 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE NOMINATION OF HENDRICKS. 



DRAMATIC POLITICAL SCENE. INDESCRIBAHLE ENTHUSIASM. v 

FlilENULY HOPES. CANVASSING THE CANDIDATES. VICE -PRES- 
IDENTIAL POSSIBILITIES. DISTURBANCE IN THE INDIANA DELE- 
GATION. A BITTER COMPROMISE. THE VARIOUS FAVORITES. 

THE RE-ASSEMBLING OFTHE CONVENTION. WITHDRAWAL OF 

TAMMANY. BADLY BATTERED BY BRAGG. DEMAGOGUE BUT- 
LER. CALIFORNIA LEADS OFF. A GEORGIAN PANEGYRIC. 

GENERAL BLACK DECLINES. ZEPHYRS AND CYCLONES. A DEM- 
OCRAT'S DUTY. A MOTION TO NOMINATE BY ACCLAMATION. 



THE INDIANA DELEGATION. A WONDERFUL UPRISING. AULD 

LANG SYNE. "OLD HUNDRED" AND ""AMERICA." "HOME, 

SWEET HOME." THE CONVENTION ADJOURNS. 

The nomination of Hendricks for the Vice-Presidency 
was one of the most dramatic things ever witnessed in poli- 
tics — in fact it was just like a coup de tJieatre. On the day 
before, his name was mentioned by Palmer, of Illinois, 
when he called out, **Illinois casts one vote for Thomas A. 
Hendricks," and a scene of indescribable excitement and 
enthusiasm ensued — men shouted, cheered and hurrahed 
for half an hour as though they had suddenly become de- 
lirious, and it was only by the utmost efforts of the Chair- 
man, seconded by the musical strains of the bands, that the 
tumult was finally quieted. 

For a time it was believed that the furor would succeed 
in placing Mr. Hendricks' name before the Convention as 
its candidate for the Presidency, but the public sentiment 
was too strongly in favor of the New York reformer, and 
finally the excitement was quieted. During the recess of 
the next day there was a very lively time at the headquar- 



276 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OP 

ters of the various State delegations. All of the available 
candidates for the Vice-Presidency were actively canvassed ; 
amongst them McDonald, Hendricks, Hoadly, Carlisle, 
Vilas, General Rosecrans and General Stoneman being 
oftenest mentioned. 

In the Indiana delegation a disposition was evinced to 
throw McDonald overboard and present in his stead the 
name of Hendricks. Quite a disturbance was created by 
this determination, and it was finally agreed, that since the 
State could not present a solid delegation for any of her 
sons, she should place no one in nomination. This was a 
bitter compromise for the McDonald men, who had felt cer- 
tain of the second place for their candidate, but it was the 
best they could do under the newly developed circum- 
stances. 

Vilas was insisted upon as the best man by the Wiscon- 
sin delegation and they made energetic efforts to proselyte. 
From the first, however, the man from Wisconsin was an 
impossible candidate, since there was nothing to hope from 
his State. The Californians battled nobly for Rosecrans 
and proclaimed his ability to carry the Pacific Slope, the 
German vote and the old war veterans, while some of the 
Oh loans did their best for Hoadly. The prize, all felt, 
must go to Indiana. She alone of all the sisterhood was 
the Cinderilla that could wear the golden slipper; she was 
the weight that must tip the beam in November, if victory 
would perch upon the banners of the Democracy. 

At 5:30 the Convention re-assembled and every one felt 
that a few hours would decide as to who should wear the 
mantle of the Vice-Presidency. Mr. Kelly Of Tammaii}" 
and the braves of the wigwam, satisfied with the drubbing 
they had received from General Bragg, of Wisconsin, and 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 277 

having failed to defeat the man whose stubborn honesty 
had rendered futile their thieving schemes in New York, had 
left the Convention and were busily preparing to return 
home. The Democracy of the country at large had given 
to them and to that chief of disreputable demagogues, Ben 
Butler, a patient hearing and had then quietly ignored 
them. 

A resolution intended to indorse certain provisions of the 
Morrison bill was first sought to be introduced, at which 
from every delegation and from the galleries there arose 
loud cries of *'no, no." Chairman Vilas said that under 
the rule the proper thing would be to refer the matter to 
the Committee on Resolutions. This was hardly disposed 
of before the nominations for the Vice-Presidency began. 

Far off Calfornia led off with her chosen hero, Rose- 
crans and Colorado quickly followed with Joseph E. Mc- 
Donald. A delegate from Georgia, rising in his place, 
shouted ''Let the dead i)ast bury its dead" and then he be- 
gan a panegyric upon the citizen soldiery of America and 
wound up by putting in nomination "one of the bravest of 
the brave, a man as true as steel and honest as the day is 
long, General «Tohn C. Black, of Illinois. 

Rising gracefully from his seat amidst the Illinois dele- 
gates, a large man, of military bearing and magnificent ap- 
pearance, thanked the Georgian for having presented his 
name and then stating that he was the friend of Joseph E. 
McDonald and pledged to his support, said that so long as 
McDonald was before the Convention he could not permit 
his own name to be mentioned. 

Kansas presented its first Democratic Governor, George 
W. Glick, for the distinguished honor of second pK'ice on the 
ticket. The applause that greeted each of these nomina- 



278 LITE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OP 

tions was hearty, but compared with that which followed 
the next was as the gentle zephyr compared to the furious 
cyclone. Eising from his seat in the delegation of the Key- 
stone State, ex-Senator Wallace placed in nomination 
Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana. 

The delirious enthusiasm of the day before at the men- 
tion of the name of one of the party's defrauded chiefs 
was again exhibited. For over ten minutes delegates and 
spectators cheered rapturously. These demonstrations were 
renewed when, a moment later, Connecticut, through her 
spokesman, seconded the nomination. It was such a genu- 
ine outburst of respect and admiration as but seldom greets 
any man. Chairman Menzies, as soon as the Convention 
was called to order, arose and said: '* Mr. Hendricks is 
not and will not be a candidate for the Vice-Presidency." 

To this Governor Waller replied that Mr. Plendricks had 
no right to decline the nomination of the Democratic party 
for the Vice-Presidency, an office to which it had once 
elected him, and of which he had been defrauded. The 
Democratic party demanded of Thomas A. Hendricks, as 
it had a right to demand of any of its followers, that he 
accept the nomination, *'and," exclaimed Governor Waller, 
** we will not take no for it — I move to nominate Hendricks 
by acclamation." 

The speaker sat down, cheered to the echo, and Colorado, 
by the request of Indiana, having withdrawn the name of 
McDonald, Kansas withdrew Glick. California made no 
effort to breast the popular storm with Rosecrans, and Ex- 
Governor Hubbard, of Texas, who had officiated as tem- 
porary chairman of the Convention, seconded Waller's 
motion to nominate Hendricks by acclamation. There was 
now no other candidate in nomination, but it was sug- 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 279 

gested that instead of nominating Hendricks by acclama- 
tion, the roll of the States be called and each delegate place 
himself on record. 

The motion prevailed, and the roll was called. When 
Indiana was reached, it was evident that the delegation was 
in a state of bad feeling. Menzies asked that the State be 
passed, and it was done. When the list was finished, Indi- 
ana was again called, and Menzies said the delagation desired 
to be excused. The Hendricks men in the delegation 
wanted to stick to their pledge made in the delegation meet- 
ing, and the McDonald men were so indignant at the course 
events had taken, that they did not want to go on record 
for Hendricks, and, of course, not against him. The Con- 
vention, however, by loud shouts, demanded that Indiana 
be recorded, and finally Menzies said that there being no 
other candidate in the field, Indiana would vote solid for 
Hendricks. 

This was the signal for the greatest uprising of the Con- 
vention. The standards of the States were snatched from 
their places and were carried forward to the platform by 
excited delegates, where they were waved together making 
a most animated picture. While the Convention cheered, 
yelled, clapped and whistled, a procession was formed of 
the standard bearers, who marched through the aisles in 
single file. As they did so, the band struck up "Auld 
Lang Syne," and the entire assemblage joined in the grand 
old melody, while handkerchiefs, hats, canes, umbrellas, 
fans, and even coats were waved frantically in all parts of the 
six-acre field of humanity. After a breathing moment the 
band struck up **01d Hundred," and again the welkin rang 
and the timbers of the great building trembled. Another 
interval of a moment, and then the band led off with 



280 LITE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

* 'America," the volume of the melody being swelled to 
tremendous proportions. The climax was reached finally, 
when the opening notes of ''Home Sweet Home " sounded 
from the gallery. People went fairly mad in their enthu- 
siasm, and as 11,000 voices joined in that most popular of 
all American airs, the sound reached proportions sublime. 
There was wonderful harmony in the music, the number of 
ladies present being over fifteen hundred, and the soprano 
part being effectively rendered. 

No more impressive finish ever marked a political conven- 
tion, and the strength of its effect was such that a great 
many men and women actually wept. These unparalled 
scenes consumed nearly an hour. Then quiet came, the 
customary resolutions of thanks were adopted, and the 
Democratic Convention of 1884 passed into history. 

When the Convention adjourned, the thousands who called 
at the Palmer House to congratulate Hendricks, found that 
he had left suddenly for Indiana an hour before. The mod- 
esty of the man dreaded a further ovation, and he had fled 
incontinently from his friends to hide himself in the bosom 
of his family. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 281 



CHAPTER XV. 

3IR. HENDRICKS NOTIE^IED OF HIS NOHINATION. 



ARRIVAL OF TEIK COM:\irrTi:E AT SARATOGA. TIIK PIELIMIN 

CONSULTATION. SCKNK OK THE NOTIFICA IION. ADDRESte ' . 

HON. W. F. VILAS. REA1)1N(} OF THE COMMITTEE'S COMMUNICA- 
TION BY MR. BELL. UEPLYOF M K. HENDRICKS. AN AUGUST 

BODY. A VERY GREAT CONVENTION. SELECriNG A TICKET. 

A democrat's duty. THEPOWER OF THE VICE-PRESIDENCY. 

THE CASIING VOTE. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE. WHAT 

MAY OCCUR HONORED BY THE NOMINATION. THE RKiHT OF 

RIGHTS. PERTINENT QUESTIONS. THE LETTER OF ACCEPT- 
ANCE. INTRODUCTIONS AND HAND-SHAKINGS. THE CERE- 
MONY CONCLUDED. 

Part of the committee appointed to notify Mr. Hendricks 
of his nomination arrived at Saratoga on the night of the 
29th of July, and were joined by the other members on the 
morning of the 30th. Mr. Hendricks was stopping at the 
Grand Union Hotel, and here the committee held a consul- 
tation at 11:30 o'clock to take action on the matter. A 
committee consisting of Messrs. Vilas of Wisconsin, Wal- 
ler of Connecticut, Hooker of Mississippi, and Stockton of 
New Jersey was appointed to confer with Mr. Hendricks 
and ascertain which would be the most feasible hour to 
make the formal notification. The committee returned 
and stated that Mr. Hendricks would be ready at 2 o'clock, 
and the ceremonies would take place in the large parlor at 
that time. 

Mr. Waller of Connecticut introduced a resolution ex- 
tending thanks to Hon. W. F. Vilas, Chairman, and Nicholas 
M. Bell, Secretary of the committee, for the dignified and 



282 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

intelligent manner in which they had performed their du- 
ties. 

Long before the hour for the ceremony to take place 
the parlor of the hotel was filled with handsomely dressed 
ladies and gentlemen, seated in a circle around the space 
reserved for the committee. At 2:10, amid loud applause 
from the guests, the committee marched in and stood in a 
circle: immediately after Mr. Hendricks followed and took 
a position in the centre. Upon his arrival, Chairman Vilas 
delivered the following address : 

"Gov. Thos. A. Hendricks of Indiana — The great 
National (Council of the Constitutional Democracy of the 
Union, held at Chicago within this month of July, consti- 
tuted this committee aow before you, by selection from 
each of the several States and Territories of our country, 
and commissioned it as the official voice of the party to de- 
clare to you in fitting terms and with appropriate ceremony, 
not only in testimony of its respect for your abilities and 
character, but in pledge of its consideration of the interests 
of the nation, that you have been nominated by that party 
to the people to be their Vice-President of the United 
States for the ensuing term of that exalted trust. That 
honorable duty we have journeyed hither from every part 
of this wide land with pride and pleasure in this manner to 
discharge. The interesting circumstances of that nomina- 
tion cannot be unknown to you, and could not but be grati- 
fying to the sensibilities of any right-minded man. It was 
well understood in that Convention that such a distinction 
was won there unsought and undesired by you. Yet, sir, 
after others were presented, when your name was sugges- 
ted, followed by repeated seconding, every other was with- 
drawn, and amidst universal acclaim the roll-call responded 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 283 

your unanimous choice ; tlien in exquisite enthusiasm the 
Convention, with a vast surrounding assemblage, joined 
with cheer and hymn in a prolonged outburst of gratified sat- 
isfaction. Sir, though Indiana's favored citizens may enjoy 
with just pride a peculiar honor in the distinguished servi- 
ces you have rendered your party, your State and the na- 
tion, and may feel a peculiar attachment for the endearing 
qualities of your heart and mind, be assured the Democracy 
of the nation participate in that sense of honor and affection- 
ate regard in hardly less degree. They witnessed your 
long and honorable career, sometimes in the faithful per- 
formance of highly public trusts, sometimes nobly contend- 
ing as a soldier in the ranks for the principles of constitu- 
tional liberty, but always with devotion and unwavering 
fidelity to the interests and rights of the people; and now 
they confidently expect of your patriotism to yield all pro- 
fessional wishes and undertake the labors of their candi- 
dacy, as on their part the people can securely repose upon 
the ripe experience of your years and wisdom to most sat- 
isfactorily meet all the responsibilities of the high office to 
which you will be called. 

*' The Convention felt, as the nation will approve, that it 
was serving the spirit of the Constitution when it designated 
for a Vice-President, a citizen worthy and competent to 
execute the highest functions of its chief magistracy. It 
is an especial desire of the Democracy, sir, to see you in- 
vested with this particular dignity, because they know, as 
now all the world knows, that once you were rightfully 
given title to it by the people, and wrongfully denied its 
possession by the success of machination, of fraud and con- 
spiracy; and the vindication of exact justice will be most 
complete when you shall be re-elected, and that you may be 



284 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

now triumphantly inaugurated to your rightful chair of 
office this sentiment has given direction to the personal con- 
sideration and admiration of Democracy so abundantly 
manifest in the recent Convention, and will stir a respon- 
sive throb in the hearts of all orood men. In finishinof the 
grateful office which the partial favor of these gentlemen, 
and my distinguished associates, has assigned me, permit 
us, one and all, to express the highest esteem and regard in 
their enduring execution of duty. The committee have 
prepared and personally signed a written communication, 
which the Secretary will now read." 

At this point Mr. Bell, the Secretary, read the following 
address : 

New York State, July 23, 1884. 
Hon. Thos. a. Hexdricks of Indiana: 

*' Sir — The honor and pleasure of officially notifying you 
of your nomination as the candidate of the national Demo- 
cratic party in the election about to occur for the office of 
Vice-President of the United States were by the Conven- 
tion recently held at Chicago, conferred upon the under- 
signed as a committee of that body, designated to repre- 
sent in our i)ersons the several States and Territories. In 
grateful performance of the duty we are entitled to ex- 
press the admiration of the Convention and the party for 
your long services, personal qualities and character, and for 
your distinguished public service and maintenance of the 
principles and objects which are believed best calculated to 
promote the security, happiness, and welfare of the people; 
and especial satisfaction in the minds of all good men must 
follow your election from the reflection that in your person 
the testimony will be peculiarly given, that the American 
people are never conscious or willing instruments of the 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 285 

great public crime, by which through fraudulent returns 
and flagrant disregard of truth and justice others were 
seated in those hi2:h offices to which Sam'l J. Tildon and 
yourself were rightfully chosen in 187(3; as well as of the 
patriotism of your great submission in confident reliance 
upon the justice of the people for vindication. An en- 
grossed copy of the declaration of principles and policy 
made by the Convention is submitted with this communica- 
tion for your examination, and we may surely expect your 
loyal devotion in the cause of our party to accept the can- 
didacy imposed by your nomination. We have the honor 

to be with great respect. 

WM. F. VILAS, 
NICHOLAS M. BELL, President. 

Secretary. 

And the remaining members of the committee." 
To the address of Hon. W. F. Vihis and the communica- 
tion of the committee Mr. Hendricks replied as follows: 

*'Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee: — I 
cannot realize that a man should ever stand in the presence 
of a committee representing a more august body of men 
than that which you represent. In the language of another, 
the Convention was large in numbers, august in culture and 
patriotic in sentiments ; and m<-iy I not add to that, that be- 
cause of the power and the greatness and the virtues and the 
party which it represented, it was itself and in every respect a 
very great Convention. [Applause.] The delegates came 
from all the States and Territories, and I believe, too, from 
the District of Columbia. [Applause.] They came clothed 
with authority to express judgment and opinion upon all 
those questions which are not settled by constitutional law, 
for the purpose of passing upon those questions and select- 



2S6 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

ing a ticket for the people. That Convention assembled; 
they decided upon the principles that they would adopt as 
a platform ; they selected the candidates that they would 
propose to the party for their support, and that the Conven- 
tion's work was theirs. 1 have not reached the period when 
it is proper for me to consider the strength and force of the 
statements made in the platform. It is enough for me to 
know that it comes at your hands from that Convention 
addressed to my patriotic devotion to the Democratic party. 
[Applause.] I a})preciate the honor that is done me. I 
need not question, but at the same time, that I accept the 
honor from you and from the Convention, I feel that the 
duties and responsibility of the office rest upon me also. I 
know that sometimes it is understood that the particular 
office, that of Vice-President, does not involve much re- 
sponsibility, and as a general thing that is so; but some- 
times it comes to represent very great responsibilities, and 
it may be so in the near future; for at this time the Senate 
of the United States stands almost equally divided between 
the two great parties, and it may be that those two great 
parties shall so exactly differ that the Vice-President of 
the United States shall have to decide upon questions of 
law by the exercise of the casting vote. [Applause.] 
The responsibility would then become very great. It would 
not, then, be the responsibility of representing a State or 
district. It would be the responsibility of representing the 
whole country, and the obligation would be to the judgment 
of the whole country, and that vote, when thus cast, would 
be in obedience to the just expectations and requirements 
of the people of the United States. It might be, gentlemen, 
that upon another occasion great responsibility would attach 
to this office. It might occur that under circumstances of 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 287 

some difficulty — I don't think it will be at the next election, 
but it may occur under circumstances of some difficulty — 
the President of the Senate will have to take his part in the 
counting of the electoral vote ; and allow me to say that 
that duty is not to be discharged in obedience to any set of 
men or any party, but in obedience to a higher authority. 
[Applause.] 

** Gentlemen, you have referred to the fact, I am honored 
by this nomination in a very special degree. I accept the sug- 
gestion that in this candidacy I will represent the right of 
the people to choose their own rulers, that right that is 
above all; that lies beneath all. If they are denied the 
right to choose their own officers accordino; to their own 
judgment, what shall become of the rights of the people at 
all? What shall become of free government? If people 
>^elect not their officers, how shall they control the laws, 
their administration and their execution; so that in sugges- 
ting that in this candidacy I represent that right of the 
people, a great honor has devolved upon me by the confi- 
dence of the Convention ? As soon as it may be conven- 
ient and possible to do so, I will address you more formally 
in respect to the letter you have given me. I thank you, 
gentlemen." 

At the close of Mr. Hendricks' remarks, hearty applause 
was given and he was introduced to each member of the 
committee and a general hand-shaking followed, after which 
the people paid their respects to Mr. Hendricks, and then 
quietly dispersed. 



288 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER XVI. 

HONEST REPUBLICAN TESTIMONY. 



POLITICAL ETIQUETTE. THE MULLIGAN AND THE ZUNI. THE 

TIMES ON THE TICKET. PRINCIPLE REPUDIATED. REFUS- 
ING THEIR CANDIDATES. A SUPERSERVICEABLE PECKSNIFF. 

BLAINE'S HABIT OF LYING. A VULNERABLE RECORD. GLOBE- 
DEMOCRAT STRICTURES. UNCLEAN AND DISHONEST. EATING 

CROW. THE herald's CHANGE OF BASE. THOROUGHLY BAD 

NOMINATIONS. HARPER'S WEEKLY OX BLAINE. THE MULLI- 
GAN LETTERS. INNOCENCE NOT PROVED. A CONVENIENT ILL- 
NESS. WILLIAM WALTER PHELP'S LETTER. ANGER AND DES- 
PERATION. THE HOME VISITOR'S CREED. GENERAL MC- 
DONALD ON LOGAN. ONE OF THE WHISKY RING. HENRY 

WARD BEECHER TALKS THE INDEPENDENT CONVENTION. 

THE DECENT REPUBLICANS FOR CLEVELAND. 

It would hardly be in good taste to say so much as we 
have about the candidates on one of the tickets, and not 
mention those on the other. It would be in equally as bad 
taste to accept Democratic estimates of these gentlemen, and 
hence whatever we may be led to record of Messrs. Mulli- 
gan Blaine and Zuni Logan shall be carefully selected from 
the most careful, the most intelligently edited and the most 
widely circulated Republican newspapers in the land, sup- 
plimented by the ablest and purest Republican leaders. 
We begin with the "New York Times," which says: 

**A hundred or more gentlemen met in this city last even- 
ing to do what they could to defeat Blaine and Logan. 
These gentlemen are Republicnns, and they speak for Re- 
publicans — for large numbers of Republicans in New York, 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and other States 
further away. They believe that in nominating Blaine and 
Logan, the Republican party or its representatives at Chi- 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 289 

cago acting for it, repudiated about nine-tenths of all that 
is decent, honest, worthy and reputable in the principles and 
professions of the party. They believe that with such can- 
didates the party works for bad and not for good govern- 
ment, and they refuse to go with it." 

That superserviceable Pecksniff of the press, the *'St. 
Louis Globe-Democrat," says of Mr. Blaine, in its issue of 
April 1st, 1884: 

"We do not know that it makes any particular difference 
what church, if any, Mr. Blaine is most attached to; but 
the testimony raises a grave suspicion that Mr. Blaine is so 
loose and fluctuating^ in his relio^ious convictions as not to 
be above tJie hahitof lying about tJiem.^^ 

On the 3rd of the same month it says: 

*'His ?'e6'or(Z zs vuhierable, axuX there is not another man 
in the party who would be sure to create factional feeling. 
He stands far outside of the limits within which a wise 
selection must come." 

In the ''Globe-Democrat" of May 23d, two weeks be- 
fore Blaine Avas nominated, there was reprinted from the 
Washington "Republican" the report of an interview with 
the editor of the first named paper, from which we extract 
the following: 

"As between Arthur and Blaine what have you to say? 
Who would be the strongest before the people?" 

"There is just this difference — one can be elected and the 
other cannot. Blaine cannot carry the full strength of the 
Republican party to begin with, and his repulsive, rotten 
record will repel the independent or detacJied voters. He is 
an unclean man, and the people will not have him. To 
nominate him would be to court defeat. He stands self- 
(convicted of prostituting the high offices he has held to build 



290 LITE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

up a private fortune ; of cohabiting ivith corruption for dis- 
honest vioneys. Oh, no; his record would damn him." 

That the "Globe-Democrat" would support this man, whom 
it calls rotten, unclean, repulsive, dishonest and a liar, was 
to be expected of a journal of its amount of principle, and 
we have only given the extracts from it and placed it in 
decent company to show how the Republican candidates are 
regarded by even those papers which still support them. 

The Kew York *'Herald" says: 

*'The * Herald' puts at the head of its columns the Demo- 
cratic ticket for President and Vice-President of the United 
States. We congratulate the Democratic party upon the 
work of its Convention at Chicago, and the opportunity it 
offers to the American peoi:>le, through a union of patriotic 
voters, by whatever name they call themselves — Democrats, 
Independents, Labor Reformers or whatever else — to redeem 
the country from the disgrace and peril to which the Repub- 
lican party has plotted to expose it by the thoroughly bad 
nominations of Blaine and Logan." 

''Harper's AVeekly," "more in sorrow than in anger," 
says : 

*'Li the spring of 187(), when ^h\ Blaine was a candidate 
for the Republican nomination at Cincinnati, there were 
rumors of some extraordinary railroad transactions upon 
his part, which became so constant and pressing, that on the 
24th of April he made a statement in the House, siij^posing 
the Mulligan letters to have been destroyed, which will be 
found in the "Record" at that time, and which has been often 
reprinted recently. This statement was accepted by "Har- 
per's Weekly," and by the Republican press and public 
opinion generally, as entirely satisfactory, in the absence of 
farther evidence. This evidence, however, was furnished 



THOMAS A. HENDIMCK8. 291 

by the investiij^ation of a committee of the House, and the 
minutes of the testimony have been publislied. The Mulli- 
gan letters were obtained by Mr. Blaine from a witness of that 
name, with the understanding that they were to be returned. 
He kept them, however, and on the 5th of June, the pres- 
sure of public opinion still continuing, he read imrts of 
the letters in the House. A few days afterward the Con- 
vention met, and Mr. WiniuQ fellill . The investigation was 
arrested by his illness, and a report tvas not submitted. 

The campaign of 187() began immediately, and the subject 
dropped from the public mind. In 1880 Mr. Blaine was 
again a candidate, but as the imminent danger w^as the third 
term conspiracy, the Mulligan affair did not play a promi- 
nent part. In the spring of 1884 Mr. Blaine's candidacy 
was again urged. The old Stalwart power was broken, and 
public attention was once more turned to his whole career, 
including the railroad transactions, which were carefully con- 
sidered, and led to a strong protest against his nomination. 
Some weeks before the Convention, Mr. Blaine's intimate 
personal friend, Mr. William Walter Phelps, published a 
letter in explanation of Mr. Blaine's railroad transactions, in 
the course of which he covertly attacked ]\Ir. Edmunds by 
detailino: certain affairs in ivhichhe contended that Mr. Ed- 
munds was just as guilty as Mr. Blaine, but affirmed that 
both were innocent. This produced a curt and conclusive 
reply from Mr. Edmunds, and an exposure of the fallacy of 
Mr. Phelp's defense from the < 'Evening Post," to which 
journal his letter was addressed. 

All this correspondence was published in ''Harper's 
Weekly" of May 10, 1884, together with two editorial arti- 
cles, in which the "Weekly" said that the explanation of 
Mr. Phelps was not satisfactory. After repeating the 



292 LIFE ANV PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

charge, *he *'Weekly" siiid: **This is the charge against 
Mr. Bla^ine, which the letter of Mr. Phelps does not explain. 

* * * Indeed both the substance and the method of the 
Blaine defense show anger and desperation but not the 
coNSCior^SNESS OF IRREPROACHABLE CONDUCT. ' ' As no Satis- 
factory -explanation was ever made, it was impossible that 
'*Harpe 's Weekly" should advocate the election of Mr. 
Blaine i*nless it were willing to urge upon its readers the 
support of a candidate for the Presidency whose final ex- 
planation of matters fatally affecting his official conduct the 
paper had declared to be unsatisfactory. 

Spepking of Blaine's prohibition sentiments, the New 
Jersey **Home Visitor" says: 

"A man so prominently before the public, in himself to- 
day a total abstainer from principle, and at heart and from 
conviction a Prohibitionist, and not to have the courage of 
his convictions, especially in this hour of agitation and 
widespread indignation against the rum traffic, when the 
public mind is a seething caldron and public feeling is at 
fever heat, is neither a great statesman nor safe leader." 

Gen. John McDonald, Supervisor of Internal Revenue 
under President Grant, and who was one of the principals 
in the great Whisky Ring of 1875, whose operations led to 
the indictment of several of its members, including the 
President's private secretary, Gen. Babcock, says that be- 
fore his sentence he received a pledge from the President of 
immediate pardon. After he was lodged in jail the pardon 
was delayed for several months on the pretense of a fear of 
public opinion. *'Then," saysMcDonald,over his own signa- 
ture, *'I demanded my pardon under threats of exposure if 
it were not immediately granted, and I was released at 
once,'' 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 293 

Secretary Bristow was the means of breaking up this 
Whisky Ring. He had a hard task, but he finally accom- 
plished it. When he discovered that rascalities were going 
on, his first step to raid the thieves was an order transfer- 
ring the Supervisors in the several districts. This would, 
of course, have broken up the combinations and laid bare 
the frauds and conspiracies at once. The order was sud- 
denly and at the time unaccountably countermanded by 
President Grant. 

In his **Secrets of the Great Whisky Ring" General 
McDonald says: ''It has always been a matter of curiosity 
among the people of this country to learn who were among 
the prominent men who approached the President for the 
purpose of having him revoke the order transferring Super- 
visors. I will here state that among others, were Senators 
Clayton and Dorsey, of Arkansas; Morton, of Indiana, and 
Logan, of Illinois." 

This would seem to show that his Zuni Indian business 
was not his first attempt at crooked money-making. 

Henry Ward Beecher says : "I am a Republican and I am 
opposed to Mr. Blaine, because I think that his election 
would be the most damaging thing for the Republican party 
that could occur. For this reason I shall vote for Grover 
Cleveland and I shall use whatever influence I am possessed 
of to further his election, and this I shall do, not because I 
am a Democrat, for I am not, but because I am a Republi- 
can. After working for fifteen years to bring the Republi- 
can party up to a higher plane on revenue reform, civil- 
service reform and so on, I think it was an insult to all good 
Republicans to nominate a man like Blaine, who more than 
any other man antagonizes those reforms. I resolved at 
the first not to vote for him, and if a good man was put up 



294 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

against him I resolved to work for his election. Such a 
man I am glad to say, has been nominated. I voted for 
Mr. Grover Cleveland for Governor two years ago, and I 
have never regretted it. He has made a good Governor." 
But what is the use to prolong the list. Those who want 
further confirmation of the dishonesty and demagoguery of 
the candidates on the Republican ticket can take up the re- 
ported proceedings of the convention of Republicans and 
Independents lately held in New York. A list of the names 
of the members represents, with a very few exceptions, 
everything that is decent and intelligent in the Republican 
party. They unanimously condemned Blaine and Logan as 
unworthy representatives of the party, and endorsed the 
Democratic ticket. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 295 



CHAPTER XVn. 

A STARTLING RECORD. 



THE "TRIBUNE'S" PET NAME FOR LOGAN. AN ENJOYABLE EXTRACT. 

A KNOWLEDGE OF GREEK, LATIN, FRENCH AND SPANISH. 

LITTLE OR NO KNOWLEDGE OP ENGLISH. MR. LYMAN REBUKED. 

THE TRICK MULE OP DEBATE. A DISMEMBERED DICTIONARY. 

A MAN OP LUNGS. LUDICROUS BUT CORRECT. A COMPLI- 
MENT TO ILLINOIS. CONSISTENT UNIONISM. EXTRACTS AND 

AFFIDAVITS. ABUSE OP DOUGLAS. LOGAN AS A SECESSIONIST. 

A CLOSE CALL. LOGAN'S LETTER TO HAYNEE. HIS OPIN- 
ION OP REPUBLICANS. DENOUNCES MR. LINCOLN. HISTORI- 
CAL REFERENCES. NEGROES AND MULATTOES. LOGAN AS A 

LEGISLATOR. A PALTRY CREATURE. 

In paying our respects to the opposing candidate we can- 
not forbear reproducing an extract from the "New York 
Tribune" of January 15th, 1875, in regard to a Republican 
statesman, whom it had dubbed with the pet name of 
* 'Dirty Work Logan." The extract is the more enjoyable 
when we remember that a few days since the ''Tribune" 
exhausted its store of scorn and satire upon the Hon. Theo- 
dore Lyman, of Massachusetts, for daring to say that Mr. 
Logan was an illiterate man. It reminds Mr. Lyman that 
Mr. Logan speaks French and Spanish fluently, and has 
been known to correct a Harvard graduate in his pronunci- 
ation of Latin. One of his biographers alludes, as if inci- 
dentally, to his thorough acquaintance with Greek and 
Latin. What a pity it is that he has not paid some little 
attention to his mother tong^ue. 

But now for the extract : 

* 'Pranced there in upon the arena of the great debate, 
like a trick mule in a circus, or a spavined nightmare on 



296 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

the track of a beautiful dream — Logan of Illinois. There 
was a vision of mustaches, eyebrows and hair piled on each 
other in arches; a large brandishing of arms, a pose and 
stridulous war-whoop, much as though a picture of the 
Deerfield massacre had stepped out from the pages of our 
early history. Logan took the American Senate by its 
large, capacious ear. And then he went for his mother 
tongue. He smote it right and left, hip and thigh, and 
showed no mercy. Swinging the great broad-axe of his 
logic high in the air, he turned it ere it fell, and with the 
hammer side struck the language of sixty millions of peo- 
ple fairly in the face and mashed it beyond recognition. 

* 'Under his stroke the floor of the American Senate was 
spattered with the remnants of a once proud vocabulary, 
and messengers, door-keepers and pages were covered 
from head to foot with the spray. Li the fearful two 
hours which followed the first roar of his oration all the 
parts of speech were routed and put to flight. There were 
orphaned adjectives and widowed nouns ; bachelor verbs 
driven to polygamy and polygamous verbs left lonely ; con- 
junctions dissevered, prepositions scattered, adverbs dis- 
heveled and distorted and syntax flung into wild disorder. 
It was a great day for Logan. 

**He set his teeth into the language as the untamed tiger 
of the jungles takes between his mouth and paw the wear- 
ing apparel of the wayfarer, and the ripping of it was 
heard through all the forest depths. It reverberated to the 
other end of the Capitol and sluggish Representives lifted 
up their eyes and listened to the roar with terrified awe. 
Some started for the scene, but upon being told the cause 
of the disturbance in the brief communication, * Logan's 
up,' turned back with full assurance that they could hear 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 297 

from that end of the Capitol all that was worth heoi-ing. 
So through two hours Logan swung his beautiful arm§ over 
the heads of the Senate like the booms of a government 
derrick, while his chin churned the language like a pile- 
driver in a heavy sea, and the baffled reporters made wild 
plunges with their pencils to gather up his regurgitations 
for the printer. 

''Ah! Logan is a great man — a statesman. When he 
throws his intellect into a question, whether it is of finance 
or self-government, or of sticking to the ship, something 
has got to come. And you may always know where to find 
him — to-wit, where he has always been, drawing pay from 
the government in some capacity. He lacks only fifteen or 
twenty things of being an orator. He has lungs." 

It would be diflicult to find in the Enojlish lano^uao^e a 
more ludicrous and yet a more correct description of a pub- 
lic man. The self assertive ignorance of the man and his 
monumental egotism are all that prevent him from becom- 
ing pitiably pathetic, and they make him, to all minds less 
vulgar or better educated than his own, intolerably offen- 
sive. The **Tribune," accounting for the English of Mr. 
Logan, and attributing it to ''traces of the pioneer habits 
of a third of a century ago in Southern Illinois," is anything 
but eulogistic of that State. 

As to Mr. Logan's early, earnest and "consistent Union- 
ism," as one of his biographers calls it, the following ex- 
tracts and affidavits may throw some light upon it. This 
is an extract from a communication to a Southern Illinois 
paper dated " Murphy sboro. 111., May 6, 1876." 

"When Stephen A. Douglas, in the hall of the House of 
Representatives, in Springfield, had delivered that memor- 
able address which bound the Democratic party of the 



298 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

North to the support of the government, John A. Logan 
followed the exhausted and ahnost dying Senator to his 
rooms, and in the presence of many of the Senator's 
friends cursed and upbraided him for his attempt to *sell 
tiie Democratic party to the Abolitionists,' and swore that 
the attempt should not succeed. During the sitting of the 
Circuit Court at McLeansboro, in Hamilton county, in 
May, 1861, while Hon. S. S. Marshall was addressing a 
Union meeting, Logan appeared, denounced the war and 
Judge Marshall and cursed the stars and stripes, and made 
an attempt to cut down the flag which was waving over the 
court house, being only prevented from doing so by the 
exertions of Mr. Chester Carpenter, Cloyd Crouch and 
others of his friends and followers. He was chiefly instru- 
mental in raising Capt. Thorndyke Br(X)ks' company of re- 
cruits for the rebel army ; a company of which his brother- 
in-law, H. B. Cunningham, was orderly sergeant ; and on 
the night when the company left Marion, Williamson coun- 
ty, he accompanied it ten miles on its way to Paducah, 
stood guard while the company slept and on parting 
from the members of the company, gave them his instruc- 
tions and promised that he would soon be with them and 
would command their regiment." 

At the same time the subjoined affidavit was published : 

<< State of Illinois, Alexander county, City of Cairo: 
**I, John G. Wheatly, a resident of the city, county and 
State aforesaid, do solemnly swear that on the 28th day of 
May, 1861, 1 went from Williamson county, Illinois, to join 
Capt. H. B. Cunningham's company (G), of the Fifteenth 
Regiment, Tennessee volunteers; that Maj. Gen. John A. 
Logan, now a candidate for Congress-at-large, and who then 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 299 

represented this, the Thirteenth Congressional district, was 
the chief person who raised said company, and persuaded 
me to join the same; that said Logan accompained us (about 
seventy in number) in the night, part of the way from Wil- 
liamson county to Paducah, the place designated for us to 
cross the Ohio river. We crossed at Paducah, according to 
John A. Logan's instructions, to evade Union troops, which 
he stated were stationed at Cairo. When Logan left us he 
agreed to meet us as soon as possible, and assigned as a 
reason for not then accompanying us that he wanted to set- 
tle his affairs at home and raise more troops, Logan, when 
he left, promised faithfully to join us soon and command 
our regiment in the Confederate service, but the next time 
we met him was at Belmont, in the Federal service, and in 
that fight Capt. Cunningham and I chased him so closely 
that he was compelled to dismount. We succeeded in cap- 
turing his horse, and delivered it to Gen. Gideon Pillow of the 
Confederate army. I served in the Confederate army from 
the above date until July 20, 1862, in Capt. Cunningham's 
company, and was honorably discharged at Tupelo, Missis- 
sippi. My son, R. L. Wheatly, Thompson Coder, Harry 
Hayes, William Tinker, Jackson Brown, Jackson Law, 
George Law, Joshua Law, Fleming Ghent, Martin Wil- 
liams and others, all except the first, are now residing, or 
were when I last heard from them, in Marion, Williamson 
county, Illinois, were members of said company, and will 
attest the truth of this statement. 

JOHN G. WHEATLY. 

"Subscribed and sworn to before me this 30th day of 
September, A. D., 1868. 

" JOHNQ. HARMON, 
"Clerk of the Circuit Court of Alexander Co., 111." 



300 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

To Judge I. N. Hay nee, Cairo, 111., Logan wrote: 

** Since the election of Mr. Lincoln our country has sus- 
tained a loss of several hundred millions of dollars, as the first 
legitimate and grinding tax of dominant black Republicanism. 
* * * If this pecuniary embarassment, this stagnation and 
suffering in our industrial pursuits were all, time and wise 
counsels would soon clear the wreck. But, my dear sir, 
there is a darker picture in the sickening panorama of the 
day — a still greater calamity is on its march — the cables of 
the old ship of state are parting, a political earthquake is 
rending the federal arch, one pillar is already wrenched 
from our proud temple. * * * 

'*If we would pass this bitter cup from our lips I sol- 
emnly believe there is but one way: Let the old fire of 
patriotism burst from the great heart of the people, swing 
the political maniac, the fanatic and the reckless disseminist 
into silence. Let the stout-hearted millions of all sections 
command the peace, reqiiirincj AhoUtionists to cease their 
warfare up07i institutions of sister States and mind their 
own business and let others alone. Let the North attend to 
her own institutions and alloio the South the saine 2^'i^ivilege. 
Let the doctrine be accepted everywhere that the people of 
each State are capable of self-government without any inter- 
ference from others. Let the President elect and his party 
abandon congressional intervention on the slavery question 
in the Territories and District of Columbia, repeal their odi- 
ous and unconstitutional personal liberty laws punishing 
citizens for obeying the act for the rendition of fugitive 
slaves, or in any way obstructing the execution of the law. 
Let them cease preaching crusades against people with 
whose concerns they have nothing to do, and for whose in- 
stitutions they are not responsible. Let them with fidelity 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 301 

execute the federal compact made by our fathers, to the 
f ultiUment of which the honor and good faith of all of us are 
pledged. Let them cast out their hypocritical sympathy for 
such murderers as John Brown and his confederates, as 
devils were *cast out' in the days of our Saviour. Until 
these things are do7ie, to talk of peace and hrotlierly feeling 
between the sections is madness and mockery. History in- 
forms us that Nero, a royal but insane and blood-thirsty 
man, fiddled while Rome was burning; and it does seem to 
me that the President elect and his friends, flushed and 
drunken with victory, are plunging deeper into their fanat- 
ical orgies the nearer our beloved country is undone." 

So much for the consistency of Logan's Unionism; now 
let us look at the consistency of his Republicanism, though 
that is pretty well shown in the above extracts. His love 
for the colored man is fully shown by the following extract 
from the famous, or rather infamous **Black Laws," of 
Illinois, of which he was the author. 

One section of those laws was this : 

"If any negro or mulatto, bond or free, shall hereafter 
come into this State and remain ten days with the evident 
intention of residing in the same, every such negro or 
mulatto shall be deemed guilty of high misdemeanor, and 
for the first offence shall be fined the sum of $50, to be re- 
covered before any justice of the peace in the county where 
said negro or mulatto may be found. Said proceedings 
shall be in the name of the people of the State of Illinois, 
and shall be tried by a jury of twelve men." 

The law further provides that the fine should be increased 
$50 over the last penalty inflicted, for every successive con- 
vietion^ and also that the neir^'O or mulatto, bond or free, 



302 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

should be sold at public auction **to any person or persons 
who will pay said fine and costs, for the shortest time." 
Half the fines were offered to informers who should secure 
the conviction of such negroes. 

Here in brief we have this tricky, blatant demagogue, 
who is at once hypocritical, ignorant and dishonest. He 
has all the vices of the renegade added to the densest ignor- 
ance and the most unbounded self-conceit. He is, so far, 
the most paltry creature that even his reckless party has 
ever offered for so high a place as the Vice-Presidency. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 303 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

POLITICAL PARALLELS. 



PLUTARCH S BIOGRAPHIES. MAGNIFICENT MATERIAL. THE OP- 
POSING TICKETS. THE MAGNETIC MAN. TATTOOED WITH 

INIQUITIES. ON BENDED KNEES TO MULLIGAN. COWARDICE 

SUPPLEMENTED WITH MENDACITY. THE PLAISTED CIRCULAR. 

^POLITICAL RELIGION. TRADING UPON POSITION. OF 

SOBER PROMISE. A CAPABLE OFFICER. CLEVELAND THE RE- 
FORMER. A PRIMITIVE POLITICIAN. THE TWO MEN COMPARED. 

A GOOD NAME VERSUS WEALTH. PURITY VERSUS CORRUP- 
TION. WHAT THE PRESS HAS TO SAY. A BLUNDERING BULLY. 

TAKING A BACK SEAT. TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND MAJORITY. 

A SUFFICIENT ENCOMIUM. LOGAN AND THE ZUNIS. THE 

GREAT AMERICAN NEPOTIST. AN HONEST OPPONENT. HOW 

THEY COMPARE. HONEST REPUBLICAN TESTIMONY. 

It was the habit of Plutarch, the chief of biographers, to 
draw parallels and pictures of great men and then point out 
their points of resemblance and dissimilarity. Had he 
fallen upon our day what magnificent material he would 
have found in comparing the men composing the two an- 
tagonistic tickets now before the people. The first we find 
headed by Blaine, ''a brilliant man of magnetic presence," 
as his admirers say, but unsound, unsafe, unscrupulous; a 
demagogue of demagogues ; a sensationalist of the most 
ultra type ; a man who stands before the people to-day, self 
convicted as a liar, a bribe taker and a corruptionist. 

We see him tattooed with every conceivable political vice ; 
leagued with political wreckers ; the associate and intimate 
of the star-route leaders ; the man who upon bended knees 
begged the Mulligan letters and who, when begging had 
failed to accomplish his object, lied abjectly to obtain pos- 
session of them. We find him guilty of the forgery of the 



304 LIFE AXD PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Plaisted circular, prostituting the sacred name of religion 
for political purposes, and playing a double game of Cath- 
olic and Protestant for paltry self-serving ends. 

We behold him trading upon his high position in the 
American Congress to serve an Arkansas railway, that he 
mi^ht obtain an interest in its stock. This is "the man 
of magnetism," "the man with a foreign policy," "the man 
from Maine," in fact, this is James G. Blaine, the Eepub- 
lican candidate for President of the United States. 

"Look upon this picture, and on this." 

Stephen Grover Cleveland, the Democratic candidate for 
the same position, is a man of soberer promise. We hear 
nothing of his brilliancy, of his magnetism, of his foreign 
policy. His worst enemy could not accuse him of forgery, 
cowardice, lying, or political knavery of any kind. Like 
the young surveyor, who led our Continental armies to vic- 
tory, and filled for two terms, the Presidency of the United 
States, with god-like wisdom, he has always measured up to 
every occasion. 

He is honest, honorable, non-sensational and in every 
sense of the word a reformer. His simplicity recalls the 
early days of the Republic; the days of Washington, Jef- 
ferson, Madison and Monroe ; his State papers are ideal 
Democratic documents. He has no affiliations with the 
star-routers and the other thieves of the body politic. He 
has never had to beg anybody to return to him his private 
letters ; he has never forged political documents to aid his 
party to office ; he has never traded official decisions for 
railway bonds and stocks. 

One of these men possesses a fortune estimated by hun- , 
dredsof thousands, the other possesses an invaluable honesty 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 305 

that all the weaJth of the earth could not purchase ; one of 
these men is the associate of thieves of hio-h and low degree; 
the other has gathered around him official associates as pure 
and noble as himself ; one of these men has prostituted official 
integrity for the purpose of accumulating filthy lucre; the 
other has purified and reformed every office with which he 
has been connected, and is to-day a poor man ; one of these 
men has been lashed as corrupt and unworthy by the press 
of his own party, the other has been praised as a noble 
citizen and an upright officer, even by those men and papers 
who most dislike his party. 

Is there any necessity to carry this comparison further? 
Is anything more required to show the difference between 
the tattooed man from Maine and the reform Governor of 
New York? Is there any necessity to go into Blaine's record 
as Secretary of State, under Garfield, and show him up as 
a blustering diplomatic bully, as cowardly as he was vain- 
glorious, and forced, by the mongrel Eepublic across the 
Rio Grande, ** to take a back seat" as the homely expres- 
sion goes. Is there any need of exposing his Peruvian scheme, 
or his absurd attempt at an interpretation of the Monroe 
doctrine ? 

On the other hand, does the Buffalo reform Mayor, the 
Sheriff of Erie county, and the Assistant District Attorney 
need any further eulogium than that of the two hundred 
thousand majority he received for Governor, in the State 
where he was best known, and consequently most admired? 
If this is not enough, is not his endorsement by every 
decent Republican newspaper and every conscientious Re- 
publican of any respectability a sufficient panegyric upon 
the purity and honesty of Grover Cleveland ? 

We now come to the second portion of each ticket, and 



306 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

as the Republican ticket was first nominated, we shall give it 
the precedence. The miserable demagogue named for the 
Vice-Presidency ; the would-be despoiler of the poor Zuni 
Indians; the great American nepotist; the political rene- 
gade turned Turk, is best described as a mixture of audacity, 
courage, ignorance and venom. His impudence is sub- 
lime, his courage splendid, his hatred malignant and his 
ignorance deplorable. Utterly selfish, he knows no politi- 
cal ties save those that bind him to party ends and the spoils 
of office. 

In the course of a long political career he has ever been 
found upon the side of demagoguery and corruption ; the 
apostle of infamy and hatred, he gained from the most in- 
fluential paper of his own party the sobriquet of * 'Dirty 
Work Logan," which was .certainly sufl&ciently terse and 
descriptive. A ranting Republican, bitterly denouncing all 
who differ with him, if we trace back his record a few 
years we find him the authorof the infamous "Black Laws" 
of Illinois, by which every negro or mulatto, bond or free, 
who came into the State and remained ten days should be 
fined fifty dollars and with an increasing penalty for each suc- 
cessive attempt, and if not paid the individual might be sold 
at auction into a limited term of slavery, which by a com- 
bination of such men as "Dirty Work Logan" might easily 
be made perpetual. 

For the second place upon their ticket the Democrats 
have named Thomas Andrews Hendricks, the very antipode 
of John Alexander Logan. Grand as a statesman and sim- 
ple and democratic as a citizen, his public career is one 
long unbroken record of honest and patriotic services. Had 
we no other evidence of the sublime love of country which 
characterizes this man, his conduct during the Republican 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. ' 307 

theft of the Presidency in 1876 would be sufficient to place 
him alongside of the grandest of American patriots. 

This, however, does not stand alone, and we find him 
everywhere and at all times consistent, honest and pa- 
triotic. A gentleman and a scholar, the gulf that separates 
Mr. Hendricks from such a man as Logan, the blatant dema- 
gogue, is too vast to be measured. His path in politics has 
been a legitimate one; the country his first consideration, 
his party the second, and his own interests have never fig- 
ured in the slightest degree in his partisanship. 

If we compare these two men, we find the one to be a 
demagogue,the other a statesman; the one a political trim- 
mer for selfish ends, the other a patriot whose every aim is 
untinged with self; the one is a ranter, ignorant of his 
mother tongue; the other a scholarly orator; the one is a 
robber of Indians a shade more ignorant than himself; the 
other is an honest gentleman ; the one is an unblushing 
nepotist; the other an honest representative of the people ; in 
short the one is "Dirty Work Logan," the other Thomas A. 
Hendricks. 

These parallels could be carried out much further, on the 
same undeviating lines, but we fear to tire the patience of 
the reader and shall here bring them to a close. If anyone 
doubts the correctness of these comparisons and the asser- 
tions herein made, we do not ask him to take the Demo- 
cratic press or speakers as authorities, but let him go to 
such people and papers as Schurz, Curtis, Beecher, Schultz 
and Barlow of New York, President Eliot, Col. Codman 
and Col. Higginson of Boston, and President Porter, Pro- 
fessor Dana and Whitney of Connecticut; such papers as 
*'The New York Times," '^Harper's Weekly," *'The Indi- 
pendent," ''The New York Herald," "The Christian 



308 • LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Union," The Congregationalist," **The Christian Regis- 
ter," *'The Baptist Weekly," in fact nearly all of the lead- 
ing men and papers of the Republican party. What fairer 
challeno^e can be made^ 

If a corporal's guard of the disreputable camp followers 
of the party had deserted the Blaine and Logan standard, 
then might their friends console themselves with the reflec- 
tion that it was rubbish well disposed of, but these are just 
the sort of politicians that stick like barnacles to the Re- 
publican ship. The defection is amongst the highest, no- 
blest and most honorable members ; the men of brains and 
influence, and no amount of affected ridicule and light- 
heartedness can make amends- for their desertion. Their 
farewell to the Republican party means its departure from 
office. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 309 



CHAPTER XIX. 
tilden's declination. 



REFERS TO HIS LETTER OF 1880. RENOUNCING THE NOMINATION.- 



REASONS FOR RESERVE. ABOVE PERSONAL AMBITION. AN 

EFFICIENT INSTRUMENT. BEYOND HIS STRENGTH. ADDITIONAL 

REASONS FOR RETIREMENT. APPEAL OF THE MASSES. A PO- 
TENT INFLUENCE. THE GRANDEST MEANS OF GOOD. A VETERAN 

REFORMER. DUTIES INVOLVED IN PUBLIC TRUSTS. THE MONEY 

POWER. HERCULEAN LABORS. PHYSICAL HEALTH INSUFFI- 
CIENT. THE ADVANCE OF AGE. AN IMPULSE FOR GOOD. 

EXPRESSES HIS GRATITUDE. THE WILL OF GOD. A CAREER 

FOREVER CLOSED. 

Below we give the letter of Mr. Tilclen declining a second 
time the Democratic nomination for the Presidency. It is 
a noble document and worthy of universal attention. It 
breathes a spirit of patriotic self-denial, and mingled with 
its denunciations of frauds and corruptions there breathes a 
prophetic hope that will not admit the possibility of the 
downfall of the noble fabric of our beloved Republic. 
It bears the spirit of sadness, which it must cause to 
every lover of his country, of fairness and of justice, when 
he thinks of the fraud that was perpetrated upon its writer, 
yet that sadness is tempered by its words of hope and 
promise. 

*'New York, June 10, 1884. — To Daniel Manning, Chair- 
man of the Democratic State Committee of New York: 

In my letter of June 18, 1880, addressed to the delegates 
from the State of New York to the Democratic National Con- 
vention, I said: Having now borne faithfully my full share 
of labor and care in the public service, and wearing the marks 



310 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

of its burdens, I desire nothing so much as an honorable 
discharge. I wish to lay down the honors and toils of even 
quasi party leadership, and to seek the repose of private 
life. In renouncing the nomination for the Presidency, I 
do so with no doubt in my mind as to the vote of the State 
of New York, or of the United States, because I believe 
that it is a renunciation of re-election to the Presidency. 

''To those who think my re-nomination and re-election 
indispensable to an effectual vindication of the right of the 
people to elect their rulers — violated in my person — I have 
accorded as long a reserve of my decision as possible, but I 
cannot overcome my repugnance to enter into a new engage- 
ment which involves four years of ceaseless toil. The dig- 
nity of the Presidential office is above a merely personal 
ambition, but it creates in me no illusion. Its value is as a 
great power for good to the country. 

"I said four years ago in accepting the nomination: 
'Knowing as I do, therefore, from fresh experience, how 
great the difference is between gliding through an official 
routine and working out the form of systems and policies, 
it is impossible for me to contemplate what needs to be 
done in the federal administration without an anxious 
sense of the difficulties of the undertaking. If summoned 
by the suffrages of my countrymen to attempt the work, 
I shall endeavor, with God's help, to be the efficient instru- 
ment of their will.' 

"Such a work of renovation after many years of mis- 
rule, such a reform of systems and policies to which I would 
cheerfully have sacrificed all that remained to me of health 
and life, is now, I fear, beyond my strength. 

"My purpose to withdraw from further public service, and 
the grounds of it, were at that time well known to you and 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 311 

others ; and when, at Cincinnati, though respecting my 
wishes yourself, you communicated to me an appeal from 
many valued friends, to relinquish that purpose, I reiter- 
ated my determination unconditionally. 

**In the four years which have since elapsed nothing has 
occurred to weaken, but everything to strengthen the con- 
siderations which induced my withdrawal from public life. 
To all who have addressed me on the subject, my intention 
has been frankly communicated. Several of my most con- 
fidential friends, under the sanction of their own names, 
have publicly stated my determination to be irreversible. 
That I have occasion now to consider the question is an 
event for which I have no responsibility. 

**The appeal made to me by the Democratic masses, with 
apparent unanimity, to serve them once more, is entitled 
to the most deferential consideration, and would inspire a 
disposition to do anything desired of me if it were consist- 
ent with my sense of duty. I believe there is no instru- 
mentality in human society so potential in its influence 
upon mankind for good or evil as the governmental machin- 
ery for administering justice and for making and executing 
laws. Not all the eleemosynary institutions of private 
benevolence to which philanthropists may devote their lives 
are so fruitful in benefits as the rescue and preservation 
of this machinery from the perversions that make it the 
instrument of conspiracy, fraud and crime against the most 
sacred rights and interests of the people. 

**For fifty years, as a private citizen, never contemplat- 
ing an official career, I have devoted at least as much 
thought and effort to the duty of influencing aright the 
action of the governmental institutions of my country as to 
all other subjects. I have never accepted official service 



312 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

except for a brief period, for a special purpose, and only 
when the occasion seemed to require from me that sacrifice 
of private preferences to the public welfare. I undertook 
the State administration of New York because it was sup- 
posed that in that way only could the executive power be 
arrayed on the side of the reforms to which, as a private 
citizen, I had given three years of my life. 

*'I accepted the nomination for the Presidency in 1876 
because of the general conviction that my candidacy would 
best present the issue of reform, which the Democratic 
majority of the people desired to have worked out in the 
federal government, as it had been in the State of New 
York. 

'*! believe I had strength enough then to renovate the ad- 
ministration of the Government of the United States, and 
at the close of my term to hand over the great trust to a 
successor, faithful to the same policy. Though anxious 
to seek the repose of a private life, I nevertheless acted 
upon the idea that every power is a trust and involves a 
duty. 

*'In reply to the address of the committee communicating 
my nomination, I depicted the difficulties of the undertak- 
ing, and likened my feelings in engaging in it to those of a 
soldier entering battle, but I do not withhold my entire 
consecration of my powers to the public service. Twenty 
years of continuous maladministration, under the demoral- 
izino; influences of intestine war and of bad finance, have in- 
fected the whole governmental system of the United States 
with cancerous growths of false constructions and corrupt 
practices. Powerful classes have acquired pecuniary inter- 
ests in official abuses, and the moral standards of the peo- 
ple have been impaired. • 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 313 

*'To redress these evils is a work of great difficulty and 
labor, and can only be accomplished by the most energetic 
and efficient personal action on the part of the Chief Execu- 
tive of the Republic. The canvass and administration, 
which it is desired I should undertake, would embrace a 
period of nearly five years. Nor can I admit any illusion 
as to their burdens. Three years of experience in the 
endeavor to reform the municipal government of the City 
of New York, and two years of experience in renovating 
the administration of the State of New York, have made 
me familiar with the requirements of such a work. 

"At the present time the considerations which induced my 
action in 1880 have become imperative. I ought not to as- 
sume a task which I have not the physical strength to carry 
through. To reform the administration of the federal gov- 
ernment, to realize my own ideal and tcf fulfill the just ex- 
pectations of the people, would indeed warrant, as they 
could alone compensate, the sacrifices which the undertak- 
ing would involve. But in my condition of advancing 
years and declining strength, I feel no assurance of my 
ability to accomplish those objects. 

'*Iam, therefore, constrained to say, definitely, that I can- 
not now assume the labors of an administration or of a 
canvass, undervaluing in no wise that best gift of heaven — 
the occasion and the power sometimes bestowed upon a 
mere individual to communicate an impulse for good. 

** Grateful beyond all words to express to my fellow- 
countrymen, who would assign such a beneficent function to 
me, I am consoled by the reflection that neither the Demo- 
cratic party nor the Republic, for whose future that party 
is the best guarantee, is now, or ever can be, dependent 



314 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

upon any one man for their successful progress in the path 
of a noble destiny. Having given to their welfare what- 
ever of health and strength I possessed, or could borrow 
from the future, and having reached the term of my capac- 
itv for such labors as their welfare now demands, I but sub- 
mit to the will of God in deeming my public career forever 

closed. 

SAMUEL J. TILDEN." 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 315 

CHAPTER XX. 

THE CLEVELAND LETTER. 



KELLY'S UNDERSTRAPPER. AN ANNOYING CREATURE. IMPUDENT- 
LY DEPRAVED. ON THE MAKE. HINDERING REFORM. 



TEXT OF THE LETTER. PURE LEGISLATION AND THE PEOLES'S 

INTERESTS CONCERNED. KELLY'S BASE ACTION. A LIAR AND 

A HYPOCRITE. AN ACTION NOT REGRETTED. DESIRE TO BENE- 
FIT THE STATE. PUBLIC DETESTATION OF GRADY. CLEVE- 
LAND'S RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION. A PARTY TRAITOR* AN 

UNFORTUNATE SYSTEM. KELLY A COARSE AND GRATUITOUSLY 

MALICIOUS CREATURE. THE TOPIC FINALLY DISPOSED OF. 

The Cleveland letter to Kelly, in regard to Grady, about 
which so much has been printed and said is herewith given, 
together with the causes which led to its being written and 
also an interview with the Governor in regard to it. 

Thomas F. Grady, Boss Kelly's Tammany understrap- 
per, whom Kelly put up to insult Gov. Cleveland in the 
Chicago Convention, was a State Senator at Albany in 1882 
and 1883. No member of the Legislature in either year 
was more impudently depraved. None was more notori- 
ously **on the make." None so flagrantly opposed the 
Democratic majority and the Democratic Executive in every 
effort they made for pure legislation and administration. 
He was continually in conspiracy with the Eepublicans 
against his own party, and in his own party he had no asso- 
ciates except the worst. 

In the autumn of 1883 he was seeking a re-election, when 
Gov. Cleveland wrote the following private, personal letter 
upon the subject to Boss Kelly : 

**ExECUTivE Chamber, Albany, Oct. 20, '83. 

**HoN. John Kelly; My Dear Sir — It is not without 



316 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

hesitation that I write this. T have determined to do so, 
however, because I see no reason why I should not be 
entirely frank with you. I am anxious that Mr. Grady 
should not be returned to the next Senate. I do not wish 
to conceal the fact that my personal comfort and satisfac- 
tion are involved in this matter. But I know that good 
legislation, based upon a pure desire to promote the inter- 
ests of the people and the improvement of legislative 
methods, are also deeply involved. I forbear to write in 
detail of the other considerations having relation to the 
welfare of the party and the approval to be secured by a 
change for the better in the character of its representatives. 
These things will occur to you without suggestion from me. 

Yours very truly, 

Grover Cleveland." 

This letter Kelly caused to be published, together with 
a vile personal attack upon Gov. Cleveland for writing it, 
and when charged with being the author of the publication 
and the mouthpiece of the attack, he lied about his share 
in it. 

When Governor Cleveland was asked if he still believed 
that, under the existing circumstances, the letter should 
have been written, he said: 

''I hold it was the proper thing, under the circumstances, 
to send that letter." 

**You think Grady was not a proper representative to 
send back to the Senate?" 

'*I do most assuredly. His action in the Senate has been 
against the interests of the people and of good government, 
and his ready tongue gave him power to be of great aid to 
bad men. I believe that the Democratic party could not 
afford to indorse such a course, and that his rejection would 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 317 

be a great benefit to the party and to the people. What's 
the use of striving for the Senate, country Democrats 
argued, and have Grady holding the balance of power to 
sell out to the Republicans?" 

*'But about the letter, Governor?" 

The big armchair rolled closer still. "I sat down with- 
out the knowledge of any person and wrote to Kelly — this 
man who had been assuring me of his anxiety to give me 
aid in my work." [The Governor here raised his hand and 
forcibly slapped the desk in front of him.] *'I suggested, 
not for my personal comfort, which I did not deny would 
be subserved, but for the good of the public service, that 
he who had the power to say *Go' or *Come' should not 
force the nomination of Grady upon the Democrats of the 
State. No man ever acted with a more positive desire to 
serve the State than I did when I wrote that letter to a man 
claiming to be my friend. I suggested that he who had 
the power (everybody knowing that the people of the dis- 
trict had nothing to do with the nomination and that but 
for Kelley's orders Grady could not be nominated) should 
favor some better man for the Senate." 

"Did Mr. Kelly ever answer your letter?" 

*'No. If he had been what I took him to be, and he be- 
lieved in Grady's nomination, he would have written 
frankly, hi reply. He put the letter in his pocket and, I 
understand, called in his district leaders in Grady's district 
and stated his purpose to nominate him. The responses 
understood to be from these leaders were that Grady could 
not be elected in his home district. Then Mr. Kelly went 
to the fifth district, where Col. M. C. Murphy had been 
nominated in pursuance of an understanding between all the 
organizations in the district. In violation of this under- 



318 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

standing he sought to renominate Grady there. Then and 
not till then did Mr. Grady announce his retirement — a re- 
tirement which was forced by the fact that he knew he could 

not be elected. All this time my letter had been in Kelly's 
pocket." 

The strong arm here again fell on the executive desk. 
*'What then?" continued the Governor. *'Mr. Kelly — 
whom many who opposed him in politics believed to be a 
gentleman — takes this private, personal letter, written, as 
he knew, for his own eye only, to the **New York World" — 
and requests its publication, together with a story that that 
letter prevented union nominations in New York and would 
make the Senate Republican. At the same time Mr. Kelly's 
newspaper was openly attacking and seeking the defeat of 
four Democratic Senators outside of New York — Henry C. 
Nelson, James Mackin, John C. Jacobs and John J. Kiernan, 
and one or more Democratic Assemblymen." 

**Then you strongly adhere to the conviction that this 
letter should have been written?" 

Governor Cleveland, with determined emphasis of tone 
and manner, said: 

''Most undoubtedly. The letter was, as every reader of 
it will acknowledge, written in the interest of the people to 
better the representation in the Senate of this State. Its 
reception proved to me that the man who had been assuring 
me of his friendship was my enemy and that of the cause 
which I had espoused. It gave an opportunity for this en- 
emy to openly and coarsely insult me as Governor of the 
State. To say that this letter should not have been written 
from one gentleman to another — the one anxious to better 
the public service, and the other having it in his power to 
do so — is nonsense. To say that a man should go 300 miles 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 319 

to say what he should not put on paper is the rankest kind 
of hypocrisy. This criticism can only be based upon the as- 
sumption that a man might say in conversing with another 
what he might afterwards in policy find it convenient to 
deny when there was no positive corroborative evidence to 
be brought forward as to the fact. It is unfortunate for the 
Democratic party that this *boss' system exists. While it 
does exist, it became a necessity — a disagreeable necessity, 
I assure you — for me to recognize it, and consequently to 
address that letter to Kellv. However, the time is fast 
approaching when this odious system will be swept away 
and the voice of the people alone recognized as potent in 
determining nominations to public office." 

**You have been attacked by several newspapers on the 
ground of inconsistency in writing this letter?" 

The Governor laughed and the ponderous chair quivered. 

**Yes; and it is almost amusing to note that some pa- 
pers, in their efforts to convict me of ^inconsistency' as 
well as ^interference,' quote from my letter of acceptance, 
condemning the interference of the federal or State gov- 
ernment with intent to thwart the will of the people. I 
stick to that sentiment yet. The trouble is (and here is 
the lamentable fact in the case) that it has an application to 
the state of affairs which the latter contemplates. The 
will of the people had, I suppose, nothing to do with the 
nomination of Mr. Grady. It began and ended with the 
will of Mr. Kelly, and his election after nomination depend- 
ed upon the same power, bounded only by the trades and 
dickers that could be made with the so-called leaders and 
the freedom of the field from other candidates. This is not 
a condition consistent with true Democracy, and it is not a 
condition most favorable to good government, but I had 



320 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

nothing to do with creating it. I merely conceded it as I 
found it, and wrote to the man who had the whole matter 
in his keeping, suggesting that he, for the good of the peo- 
ple and in the interests of the party, should exercise his 
power for good. If this be treason I can't see how I can 
escape its consequences. I have supposed that Mr. Grady 
was put in his old field because Mr. Campbell insisted on 
running in opposition to him. Campbell's majority indi- 
cates that the people were quite willing to vote for some- 
body besides Grady." 

The forcible, determined face relaxed as the Governor 
rolled his chair back in front of the desk. 

"That is all I have to say or will say," he concluded, **to 
anybody on this topic. I have dOne with it." 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 321 



CHAPTER XXI. 

GOVERNOR CLEVELAND NOTIFIED OF HIS NOMINATION. 



DEMOCRATIC SIMPLICITY. MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE. AP- 
PEARANCE OF GOVERNOR CLEVELAND. ADDRESS OP COLONEL 

VILAS. ROUNDS OF APPLAUSE. THE WRITTEN ADDRESS. 

REPLY OF GOVERNOR CLEVELAND. A NOBLE SPEECH. SIM- 
PLE BUT MANLY. UNAFFECTED AND HONEST. WHAT THE 

DEMOCRACY WILL DO. A PLATFORM IN ITSELF. A COLLA- 
TION SERVED. THE RECEPTION AT THE FORT ORANGE CLUB. 

The following proceedings which should have appeared 
before, occurred at Albany on the 29th day of July. We 
give the addresses in full, as well as the reply of Gov. 
Cleveland. The latter, though extemporaneous, is full of 
sound practical sense and bears the dignity, earnestness and 
modesty of the speaker in every line. Whatever may be 
said of Governor Cleveland by his political enemies, his 
State papers are the ideal documents of the day. 

The 29th of July was a great day for the Democracy of 
the State and nation. At Albany there were gathered the 
most prominent members of the party from every State 
and Territory, and they came to take part in or witness the 
formal announcement to Gov. Cleveland that he had been 
nominated by the National Democratic Convention for 
President of the United States. The members of the 
National Committee and the Committee on Notification 
acted together, and the result was that the tendering of the 
nomination came off with much eclat. 

It was done with true Democratic simplicity. There 
were no red tape or buncombe business about it. The mid- 



322 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

night and early morning trains brought the late comers 
and a call of the roll of the two committees showed that 
only a few of the members were absent. Both committees 
had brief morning sessions and everything was got in 
readiness for the visit to the Executive Mansion in the 
afternoon. 

A drizzling rain was falling at 3 o'clock when the Albany 
phalanx, headed by a fine band, stopped in front of the 
Delavan House. The phalanx turned out 200 strong to 
escort the National and Notification Committees and the 
orators of the evening mass-meetings to the presence of the 
Governor. The committees and speakers were furnished 
with barouches. When the procession, headed by the phal- 
anx, started for the Executive Mansion, the tremendous 
crowds on the sidewalks cheered lustily. 

It was 4 o'clock when the procession entered the grounds 
of the Executive Mansion, and the two parlors and hallway 
were soon overcrowded. The rooms were not specially 
decorated for the occasion. A big bank of flowers was 
placed in the west parlor, while the mantel-piece in the east 
parlor was covered with rare exotics. 

A glance around the room showed the presence of Demo- 
crats prominent in the councils of the nation and of the par- 
ty in the States. Among them were ex-Speaker Randall; 
Gov. Waller, of Connecticut; ex-Governor Garcelon, of 
Maine; Judge Abbot and Frederick O. Prince, of Massa- 
chusetts; Senator Jonas, of Louisiana ; ex-Senator Stock- 
ton, of New Jersey, Gen. Hooker, of Mississippi; Sena- 
tor Gorman, of Maryland; Austin H. Brown, of Indiana; 
Col. Prather, of Missouri; Miles Ross, of New Jersey; 
Senator Ransom, of North Carolina; B. B. Smalley, of 
Vermont; John S. Barbour, of Virginia; Patrick Walsh, 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 323 

of the **Chroniclc," Agusta, Ga., and member of the 
National Committee ; Col. Bardvvell, formerly of Gen. 
Hancock's staff ; D. R. Francis, of St. Louis; P. H. Kelly 
of Minnesota; Henry C. Sem[)le and Col. Woods, of Ala- 
bama; A. W. Sullovvay, of New Hamshire; A. Noltner, 
of Oregon; S. R. Cockrill, of Aakansas: W. W.Arm- 
strong, of Ohio; Lewis Baker, of West Virginia; Henry 
D. McHenry, of Kentucky ; Don M. Dickinson, of Michi- 
gan; Milton P. Reese, of Georgia; Dr. George Wells, of 
Maryland; Col. Robert Beverly, of Maryland; C. C. 
Burns, of Kansas, and Col. E. D. Bannister, of Indiana. 

New York State was well represented by Daniel Man- 
ning, Percy Belmont, Hubert O. Thompson, Charles W. 
McCune, E. K. Apgar, John E. Develin, Lester B. Faulk- 
ner, Senator Jacobs, Edward Murphy, of Troy; Mayor 
Banks, of All)any; ex-Senator Abram Lansing, Senator 
Thatcher, Gilbert C. Walker, Judge Peckham, Senator 
Murphy, W. S Bissell, law partner of the Governor; 
Erastus Corning, Amasa J. Parker, S. W. Rosendale, Sam- 
uel Hand, Congressman Van Alstyne, William C. Whitney 
and Col. William Brown. 

The ladies present were Mrs. W. E. Hoyt,the Governor's 
sister ; the Misses Mamie and Carrie Hastings, nieces of the 
Governor, their mother being a missionary in Ceylon; 
Mrs. and Miss Folsom, wife and daughter of the Governor's 
former law partner, and Mrs. Daniel Lamont, wife of the 
Governor's private Secretary. 

When all was in readiness for the appearance of the 
Governor, Col. Lamont went upstairs. Gov. Cleveland a 
few minutes afterward ushered himself into the room. He 
was greeted with a round of applause. A passageway hav- 
ing been made through the crowd, he walked composedly 



324 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

to the mantel-piece, turned around and faced the throng. 
There was a short pause, during which the Governor under- 
went an inspection from those present who had never seen 
him before. He did not display the least nervousness. He 
shoved his right hand between the buttons of his dark di- 
agonal Prince Albert and stood erect as a statue. A black 
tie encircled a high standing collar. 

Col. F. W. Vilas, of Wisconsin, who was permanent 
Chairman of the Chicago Convention and of the Committee 
on Notification, stepped slightly forward, and addressing 
the Governor in a clear, resonant tone, and with marked 
enthusiasm, said: 

**Grover Cleveland, Governor of the State of New 
York : These gentlemen, my associates here present, whose 
voice I am honored with authority to utter, are a committee 
appointed by the National Democratic Convention which re- 
cently assembled in Chicago, and charged with the grateful 
duty of acquainting you, officially and in that solemn and 
ceremonious manner which the dignity and importance of 
the communication demand, with the interesting result of 
its deliberations, already known to you through the ordinary 
channels of news. 

**Sir: That august body, convened by direct delegation 
from the Democratic people of the several States and Terri- 
tories of the Republic and deliberating under the witness of 
the greatest assembly of freemen ever gathered to such a 
conference, in forethought of the election which the Con- 
stitution imposes upon them to make during the current 
year, have nominated you to the people of these United 
States to be their President for the next ensuing term of 
that great office, and with grave consideration of its exalted 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 325 

responsibilities, have confidently invoked their suffrages to 
invest you with its functions. Through this committee the 
Convention's high requirement is delivered that you accept 
that candidacy. This choice carries with it profound per- 
sonal respect and admiration, but it has been in no manner 
the fruit of these sentiments. The National Democracy 
seek a President not in compliment for what the man is, or 
reward for what he has done, but in a just expectation of 
what he will accomplish as the true servant of a free people 
fit for their lofty trust. 

* 'Always of momentous consequence, they conceive the 
public exigency to be now of transcendent importance, that 
a laborious reform in administration as well as les^islation 
is imperatively necessary to the prosperity and honor of the 
Republic and a competent Chief Magistrate must be of un- 
usual temper and power. They have observed with atten- 
tion your execution of the public trusts you have held, 
especially of that with which you are now so honorably in- 
vested. They place their reliance for the usefulness of the 
services they expect to exact for the benefit of the nation 
upon the evidence derived from the services you have per- 
formed for the State of New York. They invite the electors 
to such proofs of character and competence to justify their 
confidence that in the nation, as heretofore in the State, the 
public business will be administered with commensurate 
intelligence and ability, with single-hearted honesty and 
fidelity, and with a resolute and daring fearlessness which 
no faction, no combination, no power of wealth, no mis- 
taken clamor can dismay or qualify. 

"In the spirit of the wisdom and invoking the benediction 
of the Divine Teacher of men, we challenge from the sov- 
ereignty of this nation, His words in commendation and 



326 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

ratification of our choice, *Well done, thou good and faith- 
ful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will 
make thee ruler over many things.' In further fulfilment 
of our duty the secretary will now present the written com- 
munication signed by the Committee." 

Colonel Vilas was several times interrupted by applause. 
At the close of his remarks Mr. Nicholas M. Bell, of Mis- 
souri, Secretary of the Committee, read the following 
formal address prepared by the Committee : 

New York City, July 28, 1884. 
To the Hon. Grover Cleveland, of New York. 

Sir: — In accordance with a custom befitting the nature 
of the communication, the undersigned, representing the 
several States and Territories of the Union, were appointed 
a committee by the National Democratic Convention, which 
assembled at Chicago on the 8th day of the current month, 
to perform the pleasing office, which by this means we have 
the honor to execute, of informing you of your nomination 
as the candidate of the Democratic party in the ensuing 
election for the office of President of the United States. 
A declaration of the principles upon which the Democracy 
go before the people with a hope of establishing and main- 
taining them in the government was made by the Conven- 
tion, and an engrossed copy thereof is submitted in connec- 
tion with this communication, for your consideration. We 
trust the approval of your judgment will follow an examin- 
ation of this expression of opinion and policy, and upon 
the political controversy now made up we invite your ac- 
ceptance of the exalted leadership to which you have been 
chosen. 

The election of a President is an event of the utmost im- 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 



327 



portance to the people of America. Prosperity, growth, 
happiness, peace and liberty even, may depend upon its wise 
ordering. Your unanimous nomination is proof that the 
Democracy believe your election will most contribute to 
secure these great objects. We assure you that in the anx- 
ious responsibilities you must assume as a candidate, you 
will have the steadfast, cordial support of the friends of 
the cause you will represent. And in the execution of the 
duties of the high office which we confidently expect from 
the wisdom of the nation to be conferred upon you, you 
may securely rely for approving aid upon the patriotism, 
honor and intelligence of this free people. We have the 
honor to be, with great respect, 

W. F. VILAS, President. 
Nicholas M. Bell, Secretary. 



D. P. Bester, Ala. 
FredW. Fordyce, Ark. 
Niles Searles, Cal. 

M. M. S, Waller, Col. 
Theo. M. Waller, Conn. 
Geo. H. Bates, Del. 
Attila Cox, Ky. 
James Jeffries, La. 
C. H. Osgood, Me. 
Geo. Wells, Md. 
J. E. Abott, Mass. 
Daniel J. Campau, Mich, 
Thos. E. Heenan, Minn. 
Chas. E. Hooker, Miss. 
David R. Francis, Mo. 
Patrick Fahy, Neb. 
Wilson G. Lamb, N. C. 
Wra. A. Quarles, Tenn. 
Geo. L. Spear, Vt. 
Frank Hereford, W. Va. 
J. T. Hanser, Mon. 
M. S. McCormick, Dak. 

E. D. Wri2:ht, Dist. of Col. 



D. E. McCarthy, Xev. 
J. F. Cloutman, N. H. 
John. P. Stockman, N. Y. 
John C. Jacobs, N. Y. 

G. H. Oury, Ari. 
Ransford Smith, Utah. 
John M. Selcott Idaho. 
W. D. Chipley, Fla. 
M. P. Reese, Ga. 
A. E. Stevenson. 111. 

E. D. Bannister, Ind. 
L. G. Kinne, la. 

C. C. Bnrnes, Kan. 
Theo. E. Haynes, Ohio. 
S. L. Mc Arthur, Ore. 
James P. Barr, Pa. 
David S. Baker, jr., R. I. 
Joseph H. Earl, S. C. 
Joseph E. Dvvyer. Texas. 
Robert Beverly, Ya. 

W. A. Anderson, Wis. 
W. B. Childers, N. M. 

D. B. Dutro, W. T. 



328 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Gov. Cleveland, who had stood meanwhile as an intent 
listener, replied as follows: 
**Jfr. Chairman and Gentlemen of tJie Committee: 

* 'Your formal announcement does not of course convey 
to me the first information of the result of the Convention 
lately held by the Democracy of the nation, and yet when 
as I listen to your message, I see about me representatives 
from all parts of the land of the great party which, claiming 
to be the party of the people, asks them to intrust to it the 
administration of their government; and when I consider 
under the influence of the stern reality which the present 
surroundings create, that I have been chosen to represent 
the plans, purposes and policy of the Democratic party, I 
am profoundly impressed by the solemnity of the occasion 
and by the responsibility of my position. Though I grate- 
fully appreciate it I do not, at this moment, congratulate 
myself upon the distinguished honor which has been con- 
ferred upon me, because my mind is full of anxious desire 
to perform well the part which has been assigned to me. 

"Nor do I at this moment forget that the rights and inter- 
ests of more than fifty millions of my fellow-citizens are 
involved in our efforts to gain Democratic supremacy. 
This reflection presents to my mind the consideration which, 
more than all others, gives to the action of my party in 
convention assembled its most sober and serious aspect. 
The party and its representatives, which ask to be intrusted 
at the hands of the people with the keeping of all that con- 
cerns their welfare and their safety, should only ask it with 
the full appreciation of the sacredncss of the trust and with 
a firm resolve to administer it faithfully and well. 

*'I am a Democrat because I believe that this truth lies at 
the foundation of true Democracy. I have kept the faith 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 329 

because I believe, if rightly and fairly administered and 
applied, Democratic doctrines and measures will insure the 
happiness, contentment and prosperity of the people. If, 
in the contest upon which we now enter, we steadfastly 
hold to the underlying principles of our party creed, and at 
all times keep in view the people's good, we shall be strong, 
because we are true to ourselves and because the plain and 
independent voters of the land will seek by their suffrages 
to compass their release from party tyranny where there 
should be submission to the popular will, and their protec- 
tion from party corruption, where there should be devotion 
to the people's interest. 

**These thouo;hts lend a consecration to our cause, and we 
go forth, not merely to gain a partisan advantage, but 
pledged to give to those who trust us the utmost benefits 
of a pare and honest administration of national afiiairs. 
No higher purpose or motive can stimulate us to supreme 
effort or urge us to continuous and earnest lal)or for an effect- 
tive party organization. Let us not fail in this, and we 
may confidently hope to reap the full reward of patriotic 
services well performed. 

**I have thus called to mind some simple truths, and trite 
though they are, it seems to me we do well to dwell upon 
them at this time. I shall soon, I hope, signify in the usual 
formal manner my acceptance of the nomination which has 
been tendered to me. In the meantime, I gladly greet you 
all as co-workers in a noble cause." 

The Governor spoke extemporaneously and not without 
evidence of deep earnestne-ss and feeling. He seemed to 
realize the weight of responsibility which rested upon his 
shoulders as the standard-bearer of the party. The ad- 
d.*ess was not only a model one in thought, but was de- 



330 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

livored with rare grace and effect. The congratulations 
that were showered upon him by the many distinguished 
leaders of the party, at the close of the ceremonies, were 
sincere and hearty. 

'*It is a platform in itself," shouted one of the Southern 
representatives. 

After the proceedings were over, the Governor invited 
those present into the large dining-room, where a collation 
was served. He stood near the head of the table, and for 
an hour or more was engaged in conversing with those who 
came up, one by one, and were introduced to him. An in- 
formal reception was held at the Fort Orange Club on 
Washington avenue late in the afternoon. 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 331 



CHAPTER XXTI. 



THE CONVENTION MEETS. 



THE GATIIETIING COHORTS. MARSHALLED FOR BATTLE. CALLED 

TO ORDER. PRAYER BY THE REV. DR. MARQUIS. MR. BAR- 

NUM'S REMARKS. HARMONY AND VICTORY. THE TEMPORARY 

CHAHIMAN. PRESENTED TO THE CONVENTION. EX-GOVERNOR 

HUBP,ARD'S ADDRESS. AN OLD TEXAN. A TRIBUTE TO DEMOC- 
RACY. UNDYING PRINCIPLES. A DEATHLESS PARTY. THE 

INFAMOUS ELECTORAL COMMISSION. STORMS OF APPLALTSE. 

THE NEED OF REFORM. THE BLOODY SIURT. FIELDS OF COM- 
MON GLORY. 

The gathering chins of the Democracy had been pouring 
into the Lake City for a week and on the 8th of July the 
cohorts of all the States were present. From the stormy 
surges of the Atlantic to the placid waters of the Pacific; 
from the vast inland and unsalted seas of our northern 
border to the Mexican Gulf they had journeyed and now in 
solid phalanx stood marshalled in battle array to do yoe- 
man service against the spoilers of the people. 

The Convention was called to order at 12:37 p. m. by the 
Hon. Wm. H. Barnum, of Connecticut, Chairman of the 
Democratic National Committee. He said: "The chair 
has the honor to present the Rev. Dr. Marquis of Chicago, 
who will open the deliberations of this Convention with 
prayer." 

The Rev. Dr. Marquis then addressed the throne of 
grace. He prayed for a blessing on this great assembly of 
representative citizens ; that they should be endowed plen- 
tifully with the wisdom which is first pure, then peaceable 
and gentle and easy to be entreated ; that nothing should 



o32 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

be done through strife or vain jealousy, but that they 
should be filled with that charity which is not puffed and 
does not behave itself unseemly. He prayed that their de- 
liberations would be guided to such conclusions as would 
best promote the glory of God and the welfare of the na- 
tion. 

The prayer concluded, Mr. Barnuni arose and addressed 
the Convention as follows: 

"Gentlemen of the Convention — Harmony seems to be 
the sentiment of this Convention. Even the air seems sat- 
urated with a desire and determination to nominate a ticket 
for President and Vice-President which will be satisfactory 
to the North and to the South, to the East and to the West 
— nay more, a ticket that will harmonize the Democracy 
throughout the Union and insure victory in November. 
Harmony prevailed in the deliberations of the National Com- 
mittee. No effort was made to nominate a Temporary 
Chairman in the interest of any candidate, but on the con- 
trary one who shall preside over the deliberations of this 
Convention with absolute impartiality. In that spirit and 
to that end I have been directed by the unanimous vote of 
the National Committee to name the Hon. Eichard B. Hub- 
bard of Texas for Temporary Chairman of this Convention. 

"As many as favor the election of Hon. R. B. Hubbard 
for Temporary Chairman will say aye; contrary, no. Up- 
on the vote that followed the Hon. Richard B. Hubbard 
was elected Temporary Chairman of the Convention. The 
Chair announced the vote to that effect, saying: "The 
Chair appoints Senator B. F. Jonas of Indiana, Hon. 
George Barnes of Georgia and Abram S. Hewitt of New 
York a committee to wait upon Mr. Hubbard and conduct 
him to the Chair." [Applause.] 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. . 333 

Mr. Hubbard on being conducted to the Chair was re- 
ceived with vociferous applause, and the Chairman advanc- 
ing to the front, said: "I have the distinguished honor to 
present the Hon. Kichard B. Hubbard of Texas as the ab- 
solutely impartial Temporary Chairman of this Conven- 
tion." [Cheers.] 

Mr. Hubbard came forward, amid loud applause, and 
said : 

*'Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Democratic 
Convention of the Union — I am profoundly grateful for 
the confidence which you have reposed in me in ratifying 
the nomination of the National Executive Committee, who 
have done your bidding for the last four years by your 
authority. I accept it, my fellow-Democrats, not as a 
tribute to the humble citizen and your fellow-Democrat 
who speaks to you to-day, but rather as a compliment to 
the great State from whence I come [applause], a State 
which, more than any other American State, is absolutely 
cosmopolitan in every fibre of its being. [Applause.] In 
early days and struggles thither came to our relief as winds 
sweep across the sea, men of Illinois and New York, men 
of Maine and New England, and along the coast, and gave 
their lives at the Alamo and San Jacinto for the freedom of 
Texas. [Applause.] I can only recall to you, in the" brief 
moments which I shall delay you, the fact that our neigh- 
boring States, her women, her glorious, Spartan women, 
sent to us the seven cannons that belched into «florious vie- 
tory at San Jacinto; but above all we accept it as a tribute 
to the fact, my fellow Democrats, that Texas with her over 
two millions of people gladly at each returning election 
places in the ballot-box over one hundred thousand Demo- 



334 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

cratic majority. [Applause.] Fellow-Democrats, we have 
met upon an occasion of great and absorbing interest to our 
party, as well as to our common country. The occasion 
would not justify me nor demand that I should attempt to 
speak to you of its great history and its distinctive prin- 
ciples through two-thirds of the most glorious history of 
our country. I could not stop to discuss, if I would, its 
magnificent progress, the part which she has taken in build- 
ing up our country, its progress, its history and its wealth. 
I can only say to you to-day, in brief, that the Democratic 
party in all essential elements is the same as it was when 
founded by the framers of the Constitution nearly three 
quarters of a century ago. [Applause.] Men die as the 
leaves of autumn, but principles underlying liberty and 
self-government, the right of representation and taxation 
going hand in hand; economy in the administration of the 
government that lays the burdens as least they may be laid 
upon the millions who constitute our countrymen — these 
and other principles underlying the Democratic party can- 
not be effaced from the earth, though their authors may 
be numbered among the dead. [Cheers.] I thank God, 
fellow-citizens, that though we have been out of power for 
a quarter of a century, we are to-day in all that makew 
adherence and zeal as much a party organized for aggres- 
sive war as when the banners of victory were flauntine: over 
our heads. 

' 'The Democratic party , fellow-citizens , since the war time, 
commencing with reconstruction, with our hands manacled, 
with our ballot-boxes surrounded by the gleaming bayonet, 
with carpet bag rule, with the voice stifled — the voice of 
freemen who pay their taxes to the government — the Dem- 
ocratic party has lived to see,through all this misrule,the day 




EX-GOVERNOR R. B. HUBBARD, OF TEXAS. 

Temporary Chairman of the Democratic National Convention, 



336 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

come when in a great majority of our States the Democratic 
party has resumed its control and its power. It has your 
House of Representatives, and but for treason stalking in 
the Senate Chamber, we would have that too. [Loud ap- 
plause.] We have had the Presidency, too; [renewed 
applause] ; but with impious hands, the hands of the rob- 
bers, our rights were stricken down at the ballot; through 
perjury and bribery and corruption, uttering falsehood 
through pale lips and chattering teeth, in the very temples 
of liberty, they stole the Presidency of this country. [Ap- 
plause.] Some of the men who participated in it have 
passed beyond that river, and stand to give an account of 
their stewardship; but history will not lie when it records, 
as it has, that that electoral commission announced in the 
Senate Chamber and through the House that it would con- 
sider the question and the evidence of fraud, in returning 
the vote of Louisiana. When the law was passed, I remem- 
ber it as the blackest page of our country's history [ap- 
plause] and all good Republicans to-day are ashamed of it. 
[Loud applause.] They turned their faces as well as their 
consciences upon the promise of the past and refused to 
consider the evidence, all reeking with ignominy and bribery 
and shame, and counted in a man who had not received, 
under the constitution and the laws, the suffrages of his 
countrymen. That is a wrong that we have here to right. 
[Applause.] Eight years have passed; that is true. We 
are told that the law has given the verdict to them ; that is 
true. When a jury is in its box, under the statute of your 
State, and a judge upon the bench, who holds the scales of 
justice unevenly, holds with guilty hands a parchment from 
the Executive of your State and allows the jury sitting in 
the box to condemn a man to death under the a^gis of law, 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 337 

he does what all the law-writers of civilization for hundreds 
of years have cursed and damned as legal murder. [Ap- 
plause.] Oh, the great sin of that electoral commision 
remains to-day unpunished and will ever be unavenged so 
long as the Republican party is in power in this country. 
[Applause.] I thank God that there is no statute of limita- 
tions running in favor of that party [applause], and in that 
connection, my fellow-Democrats, be it said to the credit of 
the Democratic party, that they exhibit none of that spirit 
which sought to engulf this country, fresh as it was upon 
the heels of a great and fratracidal war. But our great 
leaders — Tilden and Hendricks — [here the speaker was in- 
terrupted by long-continued applause, the delegates rising 
to their feet and waving their hats.] Our great leaders, 
Tilden and Hendricks, with the dignity of heroic statesmen, 
with the courage of men who love their country better than 
themselves and power, accepted the wrong and injury of 
perjury and of fraud, and they are grander to-day in their 
defeat than the men who wear their power at the expense 
of justice and right [cheers]. Thus we have succeeded in 
the face of federal power. We could have succeeded in 
1880 but for federal gold and federal greenbacks, fresh and 
uncut from Washington [applause and laughter] ; money 
earned and held by star-route contractors and the loving 
friends of a venal administration. They bought the 
Presidency. 

"Fellow-Democrats, we want reform, God knows, not 
only in the personal ; in the men as well as the measures of 
the government as it is. [Cheers.] We want men there 
whose very lives and whose very names will be a platform 
to this people. We want men there who shall in all the 
departments of the government; in its depaYtmeut of 



338 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

justice, in its postal affairs, its interior department — every- 
where shall follow its servants with the eye of the ministers 
of justice, and see that every cent that belongs to the gov- 
ernment shall remain with the government. [Cheers.] 
No tribute shall be demanded, except the tribute due the 
government; that no assessments on 100,000 office-holders 
paid $100,000,000 annually, $5,000,000 to go into a cor- 
rupt political fund. These abuses, we thank God, will be 
corrected when the Democratic party shall get into power 
once more. [Applause.] 

''We read of the enunciation of principles by the 
Kepublican party. They tell us they have civil-service 
reform, and yet they demand in the next breath from every 
federal office-holder of the 100,000 the tribute to the cor- 
ruption fund that shall be paid out to the voters at the 
polls. They tell us they have a Puritan governmenjt, and 
yet not a solitary felon has been condemned in the flock of 
those who have stolen their millions from the Treasury. 
Your Springer connnittee only on yesterday and day before 
tells us of the perjury, of the corruption, of the suborna- 
tion, that run all along through the ministers of justice in 
the prosecution of the government. We want real reform; 
a reform, my countrymen, that shall mean what it says, 
and that will say what it means [cheers], moreover. 

''I shall briefly close, fellow-citizens. It is not my bus- 
iness as your presiding officer to-day to enunciate anything 
that shall be embodied in your platform. But I wish to say 
one thing, in this State assemblage of freemen, to your 
committee on reform — that you will endeavor to unite upon 
the basis of principles which we have advocated for the 
years that are gone, and that you will have no Delphic ora- 
cle, speaking with double tongue in the platform which shall 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 339 

be named by you. [Loud applause.] Let the Green Moun- 
tain men, the men of New York and the men of Maine, of 
Texas, of Louisiana and Georgia, from the Carolinas to the 
Golden coast, demand that the committee on phitform shall 
say in our noble vernacular of purest English tongue what 
they mean, so that the wayfaring man, though a fool, need 
not err in reading it. In doing this you will declare against 
the corruptions of the government — that is we will declare 
against the enormities of its system of civil service, its de- 
partment of so-called justice, its postal service, the robbery 
in high places by the men in power. It will say, moreover, 
that the burdens of the government shall be placed alike 
equally and equitably upon all classes of our countrymen, 
having respect for the greatest good to the greatest number 
[applause] ; that the hundred millions of surplus revenue 
shall not be allowed to accumulate as a corrnpt bait [ap- 
plause], and that there shall be radical reformation and re- 
duction in the taxes as well as the methods of taxation 
in our country [applause.] But, fellow-citizens, in con- 
clusion let me say that harmony and conciliation should rule 
your councils. There never was a time in the history of 
the Democratic party when the enemy invites the victory 
as now. The great and unnumbered hosts of dissatisfied 
men of the Republican party are heard in the distance, in 
New England, in New York, on the lakes, and in the West, 
and everywhere, and while the Democratic party should not 
deviate one iota from the principles of its party, it should 
with open arms say to these men — hundreds of thousands 
God grant there may be — 'Here, here is the party of the 
Constitution, the Union, that loves our common country; 
come hither and go with us for honest rule and honest 
government.' 



340 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

*'The Democratic party, while it may have its local differ- 
ences, when the onset of the charge comes will be together, 
and whoever you may nominate, of all the great and good 
names that are before you from the East to the West and 
from the North to the South, he who stands back in the hour 
of peril — because forsooth his own State or himself 
shall not have received the choice, yea, the choice of his 
heart, is less than a good Democrat and hardly a patriot. 
In the country's hour of peril the Democratic party is loyal 
to the Union. The bloody shirt in the vulgar parlance of 
the times has at each recurring election been flaunted in the 
face of Southern Democrats and in your own faces. With 
Logan on the ticket I presume it will be again. Blaine 
could hardly afford it [laughter] he has indulged too much 
in that unpleasantness [laughter and applause.] They will 
endeavor to stir up the bad blood of the past. My country- 
men, the war is over for a quarter of a century and they 
know it; why our boys have married the young maidens of 
the northland and children have been born to them since 
those days. [Applause and laughter.] They will continue 
to go to the altar and side by side at dying beds they will 
talk of that bourne whence no traveler returns; will lie 
down and be buried together. Why, the boys in the blue 
and the gray have slept together for a quarter of a century 
upon a thousand fields of common glory; let their bones 
alone. They are representing the best blood of the land, 
and though differing in the days that should be forgotten, 
the good men of all parties in our country to-day, thank 
God, have united in the great common progress of our race 
to forget the war and memories of the war time. 

*'I thank you, fellow-citizens, for your attention. Trust- 
ing that your forbearance will be extended to me — what 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 341 

mistakes I shall make, doubtless, you will treat lightly and 
kindly with a corrective hand ; hoping that success may 
crown your efforts; that you may send a ticket to our 
country upon which all may unite, is the wish of him whom 
you have honored with your suffrages this day. [Loud and 
long continued applause.] 

The temporary organization was now completed and the 
Convention was called lo order by ex-Governor Hubbard. 
The further proceedings of the body, (with the exception 
of the address of Col. W. F. Vilas, the permanent Chair- 
man of the Convention, which appears in the next chapter,) 
as well as the platform adopted and nominating speeches, 
will be found in the supplement to this volume. 



342 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

COL. W. F. VILAS ELECTED CHAIRMAN. 



THE PRELIMINARY ORGANIZATION. ELECTION OF W. F. VILAS. 

INTRODUCED BY EX-GOVERNOR HUBBARD. GREETED WITH AP- 
PLAUSE. THE NORTHWESTERN DEMOCRACY. A GREAT OBJECT 

IN VIEW. EARTH'S (GRANDEST GOVERNMENT. ITS REPUBLICAN 

OPPRESSERS. THEIR FALSE PROMISES. ''SOAP,'' THEIR CAM- 
PAIGN CRY, THEIR VISIONARY SCHEMES. THEIR EVIL USE OF 

MONEY. DEFRAUDING THE PEOPLE. A CHANGE DEMANDED. 

THE DEMOCRACY THE COUNTRY'S SAVIOR. THE SODQM OP 

REPUBLICANISM. A DEMOCRATIC EULOGY. 

After the preliminary organization had been effected and 
the necessary details of business had been properly dis- 
patched, the election of a permanent Chairman and other 
necessary oflScers occurred. For permanent President of 
the Convention Colonel W. F. Vilas, of Wisconsin, was 
chosen and was introduced to the members, by the temporary 
Chairman, in the following words : 

*'As temporary Chairman, gentlemen of the Convention, 
I have the honor to introduce to you the Hon. Mr. Vilas, 
of Wisconsin [loud applause], as the elected — unanimously 
elected — permanent President of your body. [Loud ap- 
plause.] Thanking you most kindly for the courtesy and the 
attention and the charity you have given me, I invoke it for 
him who will need it much less than I have needed it. 
[Loud and long continued applause.] I resign." 

Gracefully bowing his thanks for the hearty applause 
which greeted him. Col. Vilas spoke as follows: 

"Gentlemen of the National Democracy: I know 
full well that this mark of your favor is no personal com- 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 343 

pliment, but a recognition of tlie young Democracy of the 
Northwestern States [loud appUiuse], and I claim it to be 
justly their due [loud applause] as a tribute for their lofty 
zeal and patriotism, for their long and gallant struggle 
against an outnumbering foe and for their great and grow- 
ing numbers [applause] , and I hail it as a presage and proto- 
type of their coming triumphs. [Applause.] But I am 
proud, though honored beyond all deserving, in being se- 
lected as their representative, and I gratefully acknowledge 
my obligation and render you hearty thanks for the honor 
you have been pleased to confer. [Applause.] No pledge 
is necessary for the continuance of their devotion. As it 
has hitherto been, so it will abide in the contest now at 
hand, pure, unselfish, resolute and unflinching till its great 
object shall be accomplished in the restoration and se- 
curity of an upright and constitutional Government. [Loud 
applause.] 

"Fellow-delegates, you are assembled to consider a great 
cause, to pronounce a most momentous judgment. Your 
hand is on the helm of a mighty nation of freemen — and it 
is for you by wise and far-reaching determination to lay its 
future course in felicity — for many years freighted with a 
vast humanity in the prosperous pursuit of happiness, fifty- 
five million of freemen who are, and one hundred million 
will soon be our nation. Earth's greatest and noblest free 
society will rejoice in the well considered work of the con- 
vention. [Applause.] Its import and value lie not in 
mere partisan success in touching the spoils of oflSce. It is 
a noble opportunity ; the hour is pregnant with mighty^ 
possibilities of good to men. Liberty, constitutional lib- 
erty, strangling in the surf of corruption, injustice and 
favoritism, cries aloud for resuscitation, for purification 



344 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

and reform. [Applause.] An assemblage of politicians 
such as long possession of unlimited power creates, but 
recently filled this hall with clamor, and it is said to have 
been too well manufactured to have been the product of 
infant industry. [Laughter.] They have announced their 
purpose and they claim the submission of the country as if 
it was theirs to command. How have they met the just 
expectation of this intelligent people? Like some corpora- 
tions which have flourished under their auspices, they have 
issued a 'watered stock' of promises [laughter] and every 
one a confession. They have promised redress only of dis- 
orders they have themselves communicated to the body 
politic. [Laughter and applause.] They proffer the in- 
fection to cure the disease. [Laughter.] They have ten- 
dered nothing adequate or worthy to the fervent aspirations 
and high hopes of this patriotic and progressive people. 
To a country which rejoices in restored unity and concord, 
they tender the renewal of sectional strife. To a nation 
which feels the impulse of a mighty growth and yearns for 
leadership in noble prosperity, they offer the inspiration of 
national calamity and misfortune. To a proud and sensi- 
tive people demanding deliverance from dishonoring cor- 
ruption, demanding decency in seating, and cleanliness in 
holding their public stations, they offer the gilded earth of 
skillful demagoguery. [Applause.] The generous order 
of youth, nobly ambitious to achieve a freeman's manhood, 
they proffer the enervating sentiments of the party machine ; 
to the men of toil seeking only equal opportunities to earn 
a freeman's livelihood they cry, *Be your master's villain 
and you shall have bread.' [Applause.] The burden of 
their campaign is already made manifest. Shouting and, 
in common political parlance, 'soap' [laughter] is its inspi- 




COLONEL W. F. VILAS, OF WISCONSIN. 

Permanent Chairman of the Democratic National Convention. 



34 G LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

ration, its ^ammunition.' [Laughter and applause.] The 
boisterous cry of the drill sergeant, the black list for the 
hesitating, rewards to the willing — this is the politician's 
share; while from the ranks of those who amass the fruits 
of others' labor the copious streams of pecuniary profit will 
summon the booty of sweetened sophistries to the ear of the 
weak and ignorant. The air already is filled with the 
vapors of visionary schemes addressed to the various inter- 
ests and factions of weak and undeserving men, and some 
are induced to expect advantage from the chaotic possibi- 
lities of a foreign war, others relief or gain for legalized 
irruptions on the National Treasury. The history of the 
Republic will have- been read in vain if such a prospect does 
not alarm and warn us. Twice already has liberty sunk 
beneath the waves of fraud and venality. She has seen her 
chosen servants, her chosen high-priests, chosen by a 
majority of votes exceeding all which were cast to elect 
Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison — I think I 
might add Monroe — displaced by chicanery and her people 
temporarily enslaved by the fraudulent usurpation of their 
place. [Applause.] She has seen a national election per- 
verted by the stream of money which flowed fron^ gaping 
wounds at Washington. Can she rise a third time, if again 
submerged by her enemies? Gentlemen, no patriotic heart 
can contemplate contemporaneous events without the pro- 
found conviction that the duties of this hour rise far beyond 
partisanship. 

*'There is one supreme question before us: *'How shall 
we most surely rescue the republic?" I know you will 
pardon me for saying it is no time for personal devotion 
or a personal canvass. No man has the slightest claim to 
our personal preferences, and we have no personal prefer- 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 347 

ences ; no personal objections we weigh as a feather even 
against our resolute choice of such a ticket as will certainly 
unite all the friends of constitutional liberty, purity and re- 
form in solid array for the country [cheers], and this 
spirit now animates the expectant hope which is turned to 
this Convention from every quarter of this Union. A great 
change has been wrought in recent years in this country — 
not alone in numbers, in personal and material characteris- 
tics, but also in the minds of the people and in the compo- 
sition of its political forces. We have ceased to fight a 
fratricidal war. The sin of slavery has been purged, the 
crime of secession has been punished. Both are at an end, 
and the chained man's sorrows are forever closed and stand 
in memory only as safeguards for the national justice, 
peace and union forever. [Cheers.] The horrors of the 
dreadful internecine conflict must stimulate suitable honor 
and reward to the noble men whose lives were offered then 
for their country's salvation, but the people will not go 
backward for animosity and springs of action to destroy 
the fruits of their labor and sacrifices. The hour of peace 
and concord, the embrace of friends after a bitter war, 
the restored joy of happy liberty and enduring union are 
their highest honor — the most noble chaplet that ever 
crowned a soldier's memory. Who dares a scar to bleed 
again, who fans a dying spark of enmity, strips the ten- 
derest leaves from the laurel leaf of glory, [cheers], and 
doubly wicked is he who perils a nation's peace and happi- 
ness to serve by such ends a vain ambition. [Cheers.] 

*' The day for such an attempt has passed. A new genera- 
tion is on the scene of action, an educated and intelligent 
generation. They understand our institutions, they com- 
prehend the tremendous growth and capabilities of this 



348 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

country, they accept the responsibilities which have de- 
volved upon them. Their realizing sense is keen that the 
welfare and progress of this people demand, have long de- 
manded, an utter and radical change in the administration 
of the government. [Applause.] 

"They liave iieard repeated promises of reform with each 
recurring election, and with disgrace and shame they wit- 
nessed each new administration discover deeper iniquities 
than those it promised to amend. [Applause.] There is 
a growing conviction that the one reform which will work 
others is the utter defeat of the present party in power [ap- 
plause], and there is but one hope. It is vain to look to 
any new party organization. [Applause.] The prosperity 
and progress and success of this Republic rests to-day upon 
the wisdom and patriotism of the Democracy now here in 
session. [Applause.] It is adequate to the great respon- 
sibilities, it is the party which brings down the traditions 
and represents the principles upon which this government 
was founded as a homestead, "equality and liberty," [Ap- 
plause.] It is the party of Thomas Jefferson [applause], of 
James Madison [applause], and of Andrew Jackson. [Ap- 
plause.] As they taught and led, it stands to-day the party 
of the people, for honesty, capability and fidelity in the 
public service, for strict principles of political economy in 
their public affairs, for the encouragement of every art and 
industry, the development of trade and manufactures, with 

equal justice to all. [Applause.] It stands as they in- 
spired it, the party of the people, for the generous diffusion 
of knowledge, the elevation of every man; for common 
rights and equal opportunities for all, the resolute enemy 
of monopoly, of class favoritism and corporate oppression, 
the friend of labor, the inspiration of youth, the nursery 
of free men. [Applause.] 



THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. 349 

**It has shared the vicissitudes, the frailties, the faults of 
humanity, it has profited by the sweets of the cup of ad- 
versity [laughter] and it stands forth to-day with a disci- 
plined patriotism, fitted to invoke and receive the restora- 
tion of that power which for half a century it wielded to 
the nation's grandeur and glory [applause], more than 
5,000,000 of freemen — a greater number than cast the bal- 
lot for Lincoln, Breckinridge, Douglas and Bell all com- 
bined — who compose this patriotic party, and for nearly 
twenty years it has been recruited steadily from the upright 
and fearless, who preferring the reward of self-respect to the 
allurements of power, have shaken the dust from their 
feet and departed from the Sodom of so called Republi- 
canism. 

*'It has exchanged for these the venial and time-serving 
of its own former possession, who sought the spoils of office 
where they were to be found. It has received and contin- 
ually receives new accessions of those who come in the same 
character which we have received before, and if there be 
any who can not abide its high purpose and fortitude and 
ability to wait for the culmination of its principles, we are 
ready to continue the like exchange. [Applause.] It has 
enlisted and caught the fire of the young manhood of this 
nation, and the spirit of victory rules its councils and rides 
in the front of its battle. [Applause.] The fatality of blun- 
dering has become a Republican possession [laughter and 
applause], and the doom the gods award to folly, let us 
pray, may be theirs. The triumph of the party of the Re- 
public's hope cannot longer be stayed. A confident ex- 
pectation may be placed in your wise deliberations. We 
may hope from your wisdom the first step to be taken, and 
to see again our nation restored to its real station among 



350 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

the powers of the earth; to see its navy, public and com- 
mercial, again as of yore, break the waves of every sea and 
spread its flag in every sky. [Applause.] We may hope 
to see the squandering of public wealth cease, justice to 
take her phice in our laws regulating finance and economy. 
^Ye may hope to see a democratic people of equality and 
simplicity and frugality, where happiness may be found 
[applause] ; where the subdued earth yields its abundant in- 
crease, while in every form art and industry employ their 
cheerful labor, and the proudest boast of American citizen- 
ship shall rise, not from the favored son of wealth, but 
from the manly freeman who returns with the sun from his 
place of honored toil to the house which is his own — [loud 
applause] — where the blossoming vine and rose bespeak the 
fragrant happiness of the loved ones at home. [Loud 
applause.] 

* 'Gentlemen, in the hardest duties before me I implore 
your generous forbearance. I stand in greater need of your 
indulgent consideration by the comparison under which I 
must suffer with the brilliant service of the distinguished 
gentleman who has just quitted this chair [tremendous ap- 
plause] with the well-deserved plaudits of this Convention. 
[Loud applause.] I pledge jou my utmost efforts to 
administer my functions here with impartiality." [Loud 
applause.] 



352 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



GEOKGE WASHINGTON. 



The first and greatest of all our Presidents, was born in 
Virginia on the 22d day of Febuary, 1732. Washington 
was of heroic size and imposing carriage ; his youthful ser- 
vice as a surveyor having given to his frame both strength 
and m'ace of bearing, and the natural firmness and maor- 
nificent poise of his mind shone in the cahn and noble dig- 
nity of his countenance. Of ardent and impulsive tempera- 
ment, so thoroughly had he mastered himself that it was 
only on the rarest occasions that he exhibited the slightest 
trace of agitation or temper. 

A born soldier and commander of men, his advice to the 
imperious Braddock in his fatal campaign would, if accept- 
ed, have proved of inestimable value. Utterly fearless 
when in the pursuit of duty, the commonest soldier under 
him was exposed to no more risks than he himself encoun- 
tered. In the crisis of the colonies, when some one must 
be found to take charge of their raw recruits and lead them 
against the disciplined legions of England, no one was 
thought of or named for this trying duty save the noble 
Virginian. 

When *'2frim visasred war had smoothed his wrinkled 
front" and the nation in its infancy needed an experienced 
guide and guardian, Washington was selected for the posi- 
tion, and well and ably did he fill it. He was inaugurated 
April 30, 1789, and his firm and steady hand at the helm 
of the ship of state guided it securely through the threaten- 
ing shoals and breakers, until all dangers were passed and 
she had reached the open sea of happiness and prosperity. 
Washington's two terms of office were from 1789 to 1797. 



GEORGE AVASHINGTON. 353 

On the 14th day of DecemV)er, 1799, Washington, the pa- 
triot, the hero, the sage, the soldier and the statesman, 
passed from the earthly stage of action. On him the poet 
Byron had passed the highest eulogy that poetry can offer 
to fame and character ; to him the grim and candid European 
veteran had sent a present and the tribute in a heroic 
epigram. *'From the oldest general to the best." Grand in 
character and great in every position in life, **vve shall not 
look upon his like again." 

The chief events of Washington's administration, briefly 
epitomized, were the Indian troubles in Ohio, the defeat of 
Harmer, St. Clair's defeat, Wayne's victory, (at Maumee), 
removal of the Capitol to Philadelphia, admission of Ver- 
mont, Kentucky and Tennesee, establishment of the National 
Bank, difficulty with the French Embassador, Genet, the 
Pennsylvania Whisky Insurrection and Jay's Treaty. 

Washington was a man of the kindliest impulses and of 
the most unbounded hospitality and generosity. He recalls 
the noblest virtues of the grandest men of ancient Greece 
and Rome. Epaminondas and Cincinnatus were neither 
more heroic, more patriotic nor more simple in their tastes. 

More than one proposition had been covertly made to him 
looking to the establishment of an empire with him at its head. 
These temptations were ever spurned by him with loathing 
and contempt. He had not, as some of those had who 
served with him through the times that tried men's souls, 
despaired of the ability of the people to maintain the liberty 
they had wrung from tyranny upon the bloody fields of the 
Revolution, and he had not lost faith in their honesty or 
their earnestness. With every faculty undimmed, and with 
his noble vigor of mind and soul and manhood undiminished, 
he passed calmly into the great beyond. 







/p^^ ^'•^' ^wi ~' ,k ^-f ^ -^ 




mw 



JOHN ADAMS. 355 



JOHN ADAMS. 



Adams, the second President of the United States, was 
born in Massachusetts on the 30th day of October, 1732, 
and diod July 4th, 182(3. During both of Washington's 
terms of office Adams had been Vice-President. Of unim- 
peachable honesty and undoubted ability he was by nature 
of a cold and distant disposition. He did not possess the 
grand nobility of soul that characterized Washington, and 
we find him an ardent partizan in the Federal and Anti- 
Federal feud. 

His instigation of the presentation and passage of the 
*' Alien and Sedition Laws" is a stain upon his administra- 
tion, as these measures were undoubtedly despotic in import 
and of no utility. Whether Adams should bear the blame of 
this odious legislation, which was entirely in consonance with 
the feelings and desires of every member of his party, is ques- 
tionable, thousfh he has been chars^ed with bein"; the author of 
the laws whose tyranny excited the anger of the people and 
greatly weakened their confidence in the Federal party. 

Adams' vacillation in his dealings with France was the 
result of a strong though pure and patriotic desire to re- 
move the hostility of that country and to free American 
commerce from re})risals that were fast driving our marine 
from off the face of the ocean. That these attempts re- 
sulted in no good cannot be attributed to want of earnest- 
ness or desire on the part of the American Executive. 

Adams' term of office was from 1797 to 1801, at which 
time the Federalists suffered a disastrous defeat, from the 
effects of which they did not recover for about a quarter of a 
century — 24 years was the exact time. Adams lived to the 
extreme age of ninety-four years. 

The chief occurrences of the John Adams' administration 
were the war with France, the death of General George 
Washington, the French Treaty, the Alien and Sedition 
Laws, and the removal of the Capitol to Washington City. 



THOMAS JEFFEKSON. 357 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



The third President was born in Virginia, April 2nd, 1743, 
^fid was the greatest statesman that ever filled the office of 
Chief Executive of the United States. Honest and con- 
scientious in action and belief, Jefferson was an ideal Dem- 
ocrat. Brilliantly educated; by birth a Patrician, he yet es- 
poused the cause of the people and was untiring in his ad- 
vocacy and defense of their rights. Well has he been called 
the father of the Democracy, for like Minerva from the 
mighty brain of Jove, Democracy sprang fully armed from 
the grand mind of Jefferson. 

In the battle against Federalism, Jefferson was ever the 
leader. He planned the cani[)aigns, dictated the policy, 
wrote the phillipics and led the hosts pf the Democracy 
against aristocratic Federalism. Next to the Declaration of 
Independence — our Magna Charta — comes his inaugural ad- 
dress as an ideal state paper. It everywhere glows with 
honesty, patriotism, grandeur, nobility and the advocacy 
of the rights of the people. It has the true ring of 
liberty and equality. 

Under the rule of Jefferson the country flourished with 
unexampled prosperity. The acquisition of the vast territory 
of Louisiana was one of the measures of his administration. 
The value of this purchase to American greatness can never 
be estimated. Out of it have since been carved some 
half a dozen States within whose borders are millions of citi- 
zens and billions of dollars of material wealth. 

Under a rule so exactly just, yet so broad and liberal as 
that of Jefferson, no tyranny nor party proscription could 
thrive, and many of the Federal leaders, charmed by pros- 



358 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

pect of such unexampled fairness, and won over by the 
golden virtues of Democracy, flocked to his standard, aban- 
doning the cold and haughty tyranny of Federalism. 

Durinsc Jefferson's term of office the celebrated duel 
between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton occurred. 
Equally imperious and ambitious, the two men hated each 
other bitterly, and Hamilton forced on his fate by abuse and 
scandal concernin<2j Burr, when the latter had become wrecked 
in his political ambitions. Hamilton was cold and haughty, 
lono'ed for an aristocratic o^overnment fashioned something 
on the English model, and was the uncompromising foe of the 
Democracy. His death has been made the subject for a 
great deal of sentimental nonsense, being clearly provoked 
by his scandalous abuse of a fallen foe. 

The settlement of the Barbary troubles, the reduction of 
the tariff, the repeal of direct taxes, absolute liberty of the 
press and of religious opinion, the diminution of the pub- 
lic debt, an honest policy in Indian affairs, a cutting off of 
all unnecessary public offices and useless or corrupt officers, 
distinguish the two terms of this President, who occupied 
the presidential office from 1801 to 1809. 

Owing to his profuse and noble hospitality, Jefferson died 
in absolute distress ; his fii e estate of Monticello having been 
hopelessly encumbered and when (on the 4th of July, 1826,) 
he died, his corpse was laid 'n soil belonging to a stranger. 

The chief events of Jefferjon's administration were the 
war with Tripoli, the purchase of Louisiana, the admission 
of Ohio to the Union, Preble's expedition against Algiers, 
killing of Hamilton by Burr, in a duel ; Burr's conspiracy, 
English and French assaults on American commerce, pas- 
sage of the Embargo act, English attack on the Chesapeake, 
and the trial of Fulton's steamboat on the Hudson. 




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360 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



JAMES MADISON. 



Madison was born in Virginia, March IG, 1751, and died 
June 28, 1837. He followed Jefferson as the people's 
choice and it was well this noble pupil of the great teacher 
of Democracy should succeed him in the curule chair 
of the Presidency. A great crisis was upon the country. 
England, jealous of the growth of her alienated daughter, was 
using every endeavor of wily statecraft and all the resources 
of her grand marine to thwart and cripple the progress of 
the young nation. Declaring her right of search, and glory- 
ing in her unequalled strength, American vessels were sub- 
jected to every indignity. 

This and other causes led to the war of 1812, which was 
vigorously and successfully fought by America. Although 
our navy was but small, its su[)crior prowess was displayed 
in almost every combat, and whether upon the fresh waters 
of our inland seas or upon the vast bosom of the ocean, Brit- 
tania's pride was humbled and she no longer ruled the wave. 
At New Orleans, too, the sons of revolutionary sires taught 
the British land veterans that the martial ichor of their an- 
cestors still flowed in their veins. Everywhere American 
arms triumphed, and a peace was speedily conquered. 

Madison ruled over the destinies of America from 1809 to 
1817, and his administration was one of brilliancy and success. 
The population was rapidly increasing, manufactures were 
springing up everywhere, agriculture yielded certain and 
ample returns, a national bank was established, and the people 
were contented and prosperous. Madison retired from the 
Presidency in 1817. 

Madison, as a clear and forcible political writer, was but 



JAMES MADISON. 361 

little, if any, the inferior of Jefferson. His mind had not so 
grand a scope, but it was thoroughly logical and nothing es- 
caped the keenness of its far-seeing vision. He it was whom 
Jefferson pitted against Hamilton, the great Federal chief, 
and the result is well known. 

Madison was at first captivated by the cold and aristocratic 
charms of Federalism, but to such a mind and heart as his, 
its bold and scheming fallacies soon became repellant, and 
he turned to the noble goddess of Democracy and devoted 
his life to her service. 

In private life, Madison was a Virginia gentleman of the 
old regime^ polished, courtly, kind and liberal. Next to Jef- 
ferson, Madison takes rank as the greatest of all our states- 
men. Like Jefferson, he was careless of money, and like 
him, generous in his hospitality. His scholarly attainments 
were almost as great as those of his beloved leader, whom 
he outlived but a single decade. 

The o^reat events of Madison's administration were the 
battle of Tippecanoe, declaration of war against England, 
the naval battles of the "President," and "Little Beit," the 
"Constitution" and the "Guerriere," the "Wasp" and the 
"Frolic," the "United States" and "Macedonian," the 
"Constitution" and the "Java," the surrender of Queens- 
town and Mackinaw, the admission of Louisiana to the Union, 
Perry's victory on the lakes, the battles of Frenchtown, the 
Thames, Lundy's Lane, Plattsburg and New Orleans, the 
siege of Fort Meigs, conclusion of the Creek war, capture 
and burning of Washington by the British, the infamous 
Hartford convention, naval combats of the "Hornet" and 
"Peacock," the "Chesapeake" and "Shannon," the "Ar- 
gus" and "Pelican," the "Enterprise" and "Boxer," and 
the treaty of Ghent. 



JAMES MONROE. 



JAMES MONROE. 



3G3 



In 1817 Monroe assumed the helm of state. He was one of 
the most equitable of men and filled the Presidential office 
satisfactorily to all. He was born in Virginia, April 28, 1758, 
and had imbibed his political principles in the school of Jef- 
ferson and Madison. Utterly without ostentation, he pos- 
sessed all of the solid virtues, and in the consideration of men 
and measures ever used the coolest and clearest judgment. 

Under his administration the Seminole war raged with 
savage fury, and its conduct was confided to Andrew Jack- 
son. The Floridas were ceded to the United States for 
the paltry sum of $5,000,000. The acquisition was a grand 
one and almost universally popular. Alabama, Maine and 
Illinois were now admitted to the Union, making twenty- 
one States ; Louisiana having been admitted under Madison. 

Anti-slavery agitation was already rife ; the application of 
Missouri for admission to the sisterhood giving rise to a heated 
debate and the adoption of the Missouri Compromise Meas- 
ures, by which slavery was prohibited North of latitude S6^^. 

So satisfactory had been Monroe's administration of his 
hio^h office that when he offered for a second term in 1820, 
he encountered no opposition, but was elected by the unan- 
imous suffrage of the people. In the Electoral College but a 
single vote was deposited against him, making his election al- 
most equal to that of Washington. Monroe died July 4, 1831 . 

Under Monroe the most eventful occurences were the ad- 
mission of Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, Missouri, 
the purchase of Florida, the capture of Pensacola, the 
Seminole war, the passage of the Missouri Compromise Act 
and the visit of LaFayette. 



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JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 365 

eJOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 



John Quincy Adains, the sixth President of the United 
States, was born in Massachusetts, July 11, 1767, and was 
the son of John Adams, the second President. This is the 
sole instance in which any two members of the same family 
have held this office. He was a man of fine talents and con- 
siderable political and diplomatic experience. When he 
came into office his party (Federal) had been out of power 
for twenty-four years, and only the adoption by the Democ- 
racy of certain Federal measures gave them this renewal 
of political life. 

Adams did not run as an open, undisguised Federalist, 
nor was he honestly or honorably elected. It was only by a 
compromise bargain between his friends and those of Henry 
Clay that the old hero, Andrew Jackson, was defrauded of 
the Presidency. This **corrupt coalition" brought to Adams 
but little save trouble and vexation, and to its other 
participants disgrace and banishment from political life. 
Henry Clay was forced into the Whig party first and later 
out of the Senate, though afterward he resumed political life. 
Adams died February 23, 1847. 

The tariff question was a source of vexation and dispute, 
and so unsettled were all of its bearings that we find its 
warmest adherents of one administration its bitterest oppo- 
nents in the next. Eandolph of Roanoke, Clay, Calhoun 
and Webster were the great men of this day. 

Of this administration the chief events were the electoral 
disagreement by which Adams secured the Presidency, the 
Creek Indian removal controversy, the tariff agitation, and 
the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. 







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ANDREW JACKSON. 367 



ANDKEW JACKSON. 



Jackson was pre-eminently a military man, born with the 
martial instinct, and a Revolutionary soldier at the childish 
age of thirteen. He was born in South Carolina, but his 
parents removed to Tennessee while he was but an infant. 
His career in camps and upon his country's battle-fields had 
left to the rugged soldier but little time for courtly graces 
or a finished education, but the native vigor of his mind was 
wonderful, and his honesty absolutely incorruptible. When 
approached by Clay's friends for a bargain, in 1824, he had 
bluntly told them that he would see them, Mr. Clay and 
himself, sunk into the earth before he would soil his honor 
by such foul huckstering and defiance of the people's will. 

Adams' unscrupulous conduct in his " midnight appoint- 
ments " really forced upon Jackson the sweeping displace- 
ments by which numbers were thrown out of office and 
their places supplied by Democrats. Then, too, he might 
have thousfht he was bound in honor to reward the Democ- 
racy for its services, and console it for its former disappoint- 
ment. He could, in all seriousness, have claimed that every 
man appointed by Adams was fraudulently appointed and 
therefore unworthy of the place. 

Jackson's services to his country were vast and varied. 
For over half a century he had been her brave and faithful 
soldier against foreign and domestic foes, and he was in 
every way worthy of the honor conferred by the gift of the 
Presidency. His two terms of office were from 1829 to 1837. 
He was a true friend, and an open, honorable enemy, and 
possessed of indomitable courage. His diplomacy savored 
rather of the camp than the court, but it was most effectual. 



368 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

By the treaty of 1831 France aijreed to pay to the United 
States $5,000,000, indemnity for injuries to American 
commerce. 

In 1834 that nation had not paid over the money, and 
Jackson ordered home the American minister then at Paris, 
and advised that French vessels should be seized in lieu of 
the money. His method proved effectual, and France at 
once paid the amount promised. 

In personal character Jackson was rather dictatorial — the 
result, no doubt, of a life long spent in military commands, 
where he was supreme, and where such seeming dogmatism 
might easily have been acquired. He was what Dr. John- 
son called a " good hater," but he was also the staunchest 
of friends to those in whom he placed confidence, or to 
whom he owed gratitude. 

He was the uncompromising enemy of that first of 
American money monopolies, the National Bank, and vetoed 
and re-vetoed it with a will. Doing nothing until he was 
assured that he was in the right, he never faltered or turned 
back. Jackson was born March 15, 1767, and died June 
8, 1845. 

The principal occurrences during his administration were 
the Black Hawk and Seminole wars, the tariff legislation, 
South Carolina nullification, vetoing the National Bank 
charter renewal, removal of government funds from the 
National Bank, admission of Arkansas, anti-slavery agita- 
tion, the great panic, $20,000,000 fire in New York, and 
the massacre of Major Dade and his command of one 
hundred and seventeen men, but a single one escaping. 






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370 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



MARTIN VAN BUREN. 



Martin Van Buren was a native of New York, born 
December 5, 1782. He was Vice-President under Jack- 
son, and replaced Calboiin in the estimation of the Presi- 
dent, with whom he had formerly been a prime favorite. 
This, Calhoun always alleged, was by trickery and intrigue, 
but no matter what its cause, "Old Hickory" was 
sufficiently powerful with his party to secure the succession 
to Van Buren for the term of 1837 to 1841. 

The administration of Van Buren fell on evil times. 
Clay's pet measures had carried, the land revenue surplus 
had been divided amongst the States, paper currency had 
taken the place of coin, and a universal panic affected the 
country. Specie payments had been entirely suspended, 
bank after bank and firm after firm had collapsed, values 
were shrinking daily, and commerce and industries were 
paralyzed. The Sub-Treasury Bill sought to restore confi- 
dence and relieve the distress, but it was impossible to at 
once overcome the disaster. 

The Florida war still continued, but Gen. Zachary Taylor, 
a soldier of the true Jackson type, indefatigable, brave and 
judicious, was now conducting the campaign, and eventually 
conquered a peace from the savage Seminoles. The subjuga- 
tion of these Indians cost the United States $40,000,000, to 
say nothing of the valuable lives sacrificed in the treacherous 
warfare of the aboriginees. Van Buren died July 24, 1862. 

The most notable events of this administration were the 
great panic, the Seminole war, the Canadian rebellion, Tay- 
lor's victory at Lake Okeechobee, and the admission of 
Michigan. 






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372 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



In 1840 the Whig party was about at its last gasp. Ex- 
traordinary measures alone could save them ; the people had 
penetrated the thin veil that covered their aristocratic ten- 
dencies, and had deserted to the enemy, whose policy was 
better calculated to benefit and to hold them. 

In the very acme of their ciisis the happy thought of 
sacrificing Clay and other leaders, and going before the 
people on the military record and fresh successes of Gen- 
eral William Henry Harrison occurred and he was at once 
selected to lead the Whig hosts on to victor3\ 

Harrison had become sufficiently a favorite of the public 
to gain from the people the nick-name of *'Old Tippecanoe," 
from his greatest Indian victory, and his services to the 
country in her border warfare and that of 1812 had been 
many and varied. He was neither a statesman nor a [)()li- 
tician, but he was a thoroughly honest man and a simple, 
hospitable citizen. 

When called to the Presidency he was clerk of a court 
in Ohio, earning a small salary, and apparently thoroughly 
satisfied with his lot. While his hospitality was boundless, 
his tastes were simple and he was the modern type of a 
Spaitan soldier, brave but frugal. 

The Whig watch- word of * 'Tippecanoe and Tyler too,'' 
stirred up the martial enthusiasm of the American pe()[)le, 
and the *'Log cabin and hard cider" campaign of 1840 re- 
sulted, we cannot truly say in a Whig victory, but in such 
an expression of admiration for the Whig candidate that he 
was elected. All classes. Whig and Democrat, conspired to 
reward his services in the field by the highest civil office in 
their gift. 

Harrison was born in Virginia, February 9, 1773, 
inaugura!ed on the 4tli day of March, 1841, and died — after 
a term embraced in exactly one month — on the 4th day of 
April, 1841. He was the first of the President? to die in 
office. 



374 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



JOHN TYLER. 



Harrison was succeeded by John Tyler, who filled out the 
remainder of the term, consisting of three years and eleven 
months. Tyler was born in Virginia, March 29, 1790. 
His inauguration took place April 6, 1841, and his death 
occurred January 17, 1862. 

The Whigs expected that Tyler would obediently carry 
out the programme they had laid down for Harrison, but 
the former had, while a member of the Democratic party, 
placed himself upon the record with regard to certain 
measures, and was unwilling to stultify himself by a direct 
contradiction of that record. 

The special session of Congress, called by Harrison, con- 
vened on the 31st day of May, and measures were devised 
to relieve the financial distress. A bankrupt law was passed, 
but Tyler resolutely vetoed the National Bank Bill, against 
the constitutionality of which he had expressed himself 
while in the Democratic party. A second bill of the same 
kind met with a veto, and Tyler was indignantly denounced 
by the Whigs who had elected him. All the members of 
his Cabinet, except Daniel Webster, resigned. The northern 
boundary of the United States was settled under his 
administration. 

The Dorr Insurrection in Rhode Island occurred, and was 
suppressed by United States troops. The question of Texan 
annexation also came up, and just two days before the expi- 
ration of his term of office, Tyler signed the bill for the 
admission of Texas, and made certain the war with 
Mexico. 

Of this dual administration the principal events were the 
death of Harrison, fixing the northern national boundary, 
repeal of the Sub-Treasury Bill, Tyler's vetoes of the 
National Bank Bill, the perfection of the magnetic tele- 
graph, the admission of Florida, the Dorr rebellion, and the 
the annexation of Texas to the United States. 




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37G LITE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



JAMES K. POLK. 



James Knox Polk was born in North Carolina, November 
2, 1795, but was a resident of Tennessee when elected to 
the Presidency. Polk was a man of only mediocre attain- 
ments, but was positive almost to dogmatism. By pro- 
fession he was a lawyer, but his practice was mostly 
that of politics. At the time of his election he was but 
little known to the people, and was the first *' dark horse" 
candidate in our politics. 

Since that day this move has been extensively practiced, 
especially amongst the Republicans, who seem averse to 
putting up their most prominent men. This presenting a 
comparatively unknown man is generally caused by com- 
promising the claims of two or more of the most able men 
seeking the nomination. 

Polk was thoroughly honest, and his bluntness gave 
offense to many, and estranged from him numerous political 
associates and friends. Clay was the Whig candidate against 
Polk, and took his defeat very bitterly. He felt that he 
had been defrauded of the previous nomination, the only 
chance the Whigs had had for years, and he felt that the 
dream of his life would never be realized. 

General Taylor was sent to Texas to take measures against 
a Mexican invasion, and as Mexico declined all negotiation, 
he moved on to the Rio Grande, which the Texans claimed 
as their western boundary. Hostilities were now begun by 
the Mexicans attacking and capturing a company of Ameri- 
can cavalry. The first serious battle was between Taylor, 
with 2,300 men, and a Mexican force of 6,000 strongly 
entrenched at Palo Alto. Driven from this point, the Mexi- 



JAMES K. POLK. 377 

cans retreated to Resaca de la Palma, and on the next day 
opposed the grand old hero. Although they were in greatly 
superior force, Taylor again routed his foes. 

In battle after battle did the victorious Americans over- 
come the enemy, and finally succeeded in conquering their 
capital, and there dictated terms of peace. New Mexico 
and California were at the same time overrun by American 
troops. The grandest and most successful battle ever 
fought by American troops against such immense odds was 
that of Buena Vista, where Taylor's volunteers routed the 
flower of the Mexican forces, who were nearly five to one. 
All through this war the treachery of the Mexicans was 
fully exhibited. A treaty of peace was concluded at Guad- 
alupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848. 

Gold was discovered in California in 1848, the gold 
fever began to rage in 1849, and the attention of the world 
was attracted to this new American territory, crowds flock- 
ing in from every quarter of the globe to the new Eldorado. 
A potato famine in Ireland caused a large emigration to 
the United States from that country. The Wilmot Proviso, 
brought forward at this time, caused the organization of 
the Free Soil party, of which Van Buren was the candidate 
in 1848. Polk died June 15, 1849. 

The eventful incidents of Polk's administration were the 
admission of Florida, Iowa and Wisconsin ; the annexation 
of Texas, the war with Mexico, the victories of Palo Alto, 
Resaca de la Palraa, Matamoras, Monterey, Buena Vista, 
Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Molino del Rey, 
Chapultepec and Mexico ; the discovery of gold in California, 
and the Wilmot Proviso. 








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zauhaky TAYLOR. 379 



ZACHARY TAYLOR. 



General Taylor, the twelfth President of the United 
States, was born in Virginia, November 24, 1784. From 
his youth up to his sixty-fourth year, Taylor fought in the 
wars of his country, and proved himself as skillful a leader 
as he was a gallant soldier. Prior to the war with Mexico 
his chief service had been a2fainst the Seminole Indians in 
Florida. In Mexico he reaped fresh and greater laurels. 
His indomitable bravery at Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, 
Matamoras, Monterey and especially at Buena Vista, made 
him the military hero ^a?' excellence in the estimation of his 
countrymen. 

His heroism completely overshadowed the exploits of 
General Scott, who had unjustly robbed him of all of his 
regular troops, and the Whig party, then in extremis^ in 
looking around for an available candidate, very wisely 
pitched upon Taylor. 

That Taylor was a Whig is extremely doubtful; in fact, 
he himself always proclaimed that he was not a party man, 
still he was the only man that could save Whigism from 
dissolution, and he was eagerly accepted. 

In his letters written at the time that the nomination 
was proposed to him — and they were neither few nor far 
between — Taylor always avowed his distaste for party, 
and declared that he would not bind himself as a strict 
party candidate. It is difficult to conceive so modest a man 
as Taylor, and wdio had just crowned himself with laurels 
in a battle that had attracted the attention of the world, as 
longing for civil office. 



380 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

The probability is that he sought it as a rebuke to the 
administration that had promised him so much, only to 
disappoint him at the most critical moment, by taking from 
him all of his regular troops and turning them over to 
Scott. This injustice, however, was the cause of his 
grandest success, for Santa Anna, learning that he had been 
greatly weakened, pounced down upon him, only to be 
shamefully and disastrously defeated, while Taylor's heroic 
defense crowned him with glory. 

Lewis Cass, of Michigan, the Democratic candidate, was 
beaten by a large majority, and the existence of the Whig 
party prolonged for a short period. Taylor was neither a 
statesman nor a politician, but he was thoroughly honest, of 
sound judgment, and as modest as a school girl. 

During his short career in office — he died July 9, 1850 — 
he had won many friends of the opposite party, and easily 
held those of his own. Taylor was a resident of Louisiana 
when elected. Durino^ his short administration the anti- 
slavery agitation was violent. 

Clay's *' Omnibus Bill," intended to soothe this agita- 
tion, and create a feeling of friendship and satisfaction be- 
tween the hostile sections, had been prepared during the 
closing days of Taylor's term, but it was not until after his 
death that it was passed, and then its effects were but tem- 
porary. 

The principal events of this administration were the death 
of Calhoun (March 31, 1850), the anti-slavery agitation, 
the organization of the territory of New Mexico, and the 
death of Taylor himself. 










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382 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



MILLAED FILLMORE. 



Fillmore, the second President by succession — he having 
been Taylor's Vice-President — was born in New York, 
January 7, 1800, and succeeded to the Presidency July 
9, 1850. The [Presidential chair never held a man more 
honest or more patriotic than Millard Fillmore. He had the 
Roman virtues and the Roman nobility of character, and was 
as self-poised and conscientious as Washington himself. No 
amount of popular clamor could drive him from his duty, 
no amount of party praise could cajole him into the commis- 
sion of a wrong. 

Clay's ** Omnibus Bill" — a compromise measure — passed 
September 18, 1850, and for.a while its effect was good, but 
the Abolitionists had determined to *' rule or ruin," and their 
clamors soon arose again. The subject of the Newfoundland 
coast fisheries also agitated Congress, and this was not quieted 
until 1854. In 1852 Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot, visited 
the United States, and was everywhere warmly welcomed. In 
this year — June 28, 1852 — Henry Clay died, and then passed 
away the grandest orator the United States has ever known. 

Congi'ess passed the Fugitive Slave Law, and Fillmore 
promptly affixed his signature to the measure. Under Fill- 
more letter postage was reduced, and the Lopez Cuban in- 
vasion took place. The effort to make California a slave 
State also agitated this administration, the chief events of 
which were the admission of California to the Union, the 
organization of Utah territory, the passage of the Fugitive 
Slave Law, the deaths of Clay and Webster, the visit of 
Kossuth, the descent on Cuba, the coast fisheries agitation 
and the postage reduction. 








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384 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 3F 



FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



In the campaign of 1852, Franklin Pierce, of New Hamp- 
shire, was the Democratic candidate. Ho was born in New- 
Hampshire, November 23, 1804, and was a comparatively 
unknown man, being another of the *' dark horses " of the 
Democracy. By profession he was a lawyer, and had repre- 
sented his State in the National Senate. In the Mexican war 
he held the position of a general, but made no record for 
galhmtry or generalship. His opponent was General Win- 
field Scott, and the Whig party hoped to repeat the success 
they had obtained by nominating General Taylor. 

Their effort proved a failure, and they secured only 42 
electoral votes to 254 for Pierce, although the Free Soil 
Democracy sought to injure the regular ticket by naming 
John P. Hale as their candidate. This defeat finished the 
Whig party, and from this time we find an organization solely 
on slavery and abolition lines, if we except the Native 
American movement which now began. 

The dispute (in 1853) over the New Mexican boundary 
resulted in the acquisition of a considerable territory by 
purchase, this measure being known as the Gadsden pur- 
chase. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill caused additional aboli- 
tion excitement and resulted in Douglas' Squatter Sover- 
eignty Resolutions, by which the Missouri Compromise (of 
1820) was repealed. Pierce died October 8, 1869. The chief 
occurrences of his administration were the Gadsden purchase, 
the action of some of the free States declaring all slaves enter- 
ing their borders free, the Know-nothing agitation, the Kansas 
troubles, the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, the Squat- 
ter Sovereignty Resolutions, and Perry's treaty with Japan. 




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386 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



JAMES BUCHANAN. 



James Buchanan was bom in Pennsylvania, April 23, 
1791, and died June 1st, 18G8. In 1856 the Whig party 
was at its last gasp, and in opposition to Buchanan, the Dem- 
ocratic nominee, they did not feel strong enough to put up 
a straight-out candidate. The overwhelming defeat of 
Scott by an unknown man convinced them that Federalism 
had had its day, and accordingly they endorsed the nomi- 
nation of Fillmore made by the American party. In the 
subsequent election some of them voted for Fillmore, but 
the bulk of the party went over to Fremont, recognizing 
the Republican party as the true and legitimate successor to 
the imj)erialistic, high tariff, sectional and revolutionary 
mantle of Whigism and Federalism. 

The Slogan of '*free men, free soil and Fremont" 
gathered into the Abolition fold a mongrel following, but 
one that developed surprising strength ; their candidate secur- 
ing 114 electoral votes, while Fillmore got but 8, and Bu- 
chanan 174. Buchanan was doomed to preside overtroubled 
elements. The insolent and infamous Mormons broke out 
in open insurrection, to support their vile polygamous prac- 
tices, but the United States troops, under Albert Sidney 
Johnson, compelled promises of better behavior in the 

future. 

Having kept a close outlook upon the political affairs of 

the States, the Mormons, at the time of their outbreak, 

judged that by the time that an armed force could be 

marched asrainst them a civil war would have been bes^un 

that would occupy the entire attention of the government, 

and leave them free to organize their infamous empire of 



JAMES BUCHANAN. 387 

lust and murder, in peace. How shrewd was their judgment 
after-events amply prove. 

A financial panic occurred in 1857 and greatly hindered 
the prosperity of the country. The next year the first At- 
lantic cable was successfully laid, and Minnesota was admit- 
ted into the Union. Oregon followed in 1859. In the fall 
of this year a silly old fanatic, John Brown, attempted an 
invasion of Virs^inia and the creation of a servile insurrec- 
tion. His force consisted of twenty-one men and committed 
several murders in the streets of Harpers Ferry. Several 
of them were killed, a few escaped and the rest, including 
Brown, were captured and hung for the murders they had 
committed. 

Leo^islation for the admission of Kansas as a State failed 
until January, 1861, when she came in as a free State. The 
raid of Brown and the incautious utterances of the more 
fanatical Abolition leaders greatly embittered the Southern 
States and prepared them for open revolt in 1861. They de- 
clared a Republican success equivalent to the the speedy and 
unconstitutional abolition of slavery and this they pledged 
themselves to resist. Buchanan, thoroughly honest and a 
man of fine judgment, endeavored to calm this sectional 
agitation, but the ship was already amongst* the breakers and 
nothing in human power could avert disaster. 

Of this administration the chief events were the Mor- 
mon insurrection, the Kansas legislation and troubles, the 
John Brown raid, the financial panic of 1857, the admis- 
sion of Oregon, Minnesota and Kansas, the laying of the 
Atlantic cable and the secession movement of the slave 
States. 




"^5V4;-;< 




■/7~-' 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 389 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United 
States, was the first distinctively sectional candidate that ever 
held the position. He was born in Kentucky, February 
12, 1809, but was a resident of Illinois at the time of his 
election. His education was poor, but his mind had native 
brightness and strength, his disposition was eminently jocular 
and Joe Miller himself did not have a keener relish for a 
hon mot. Those told of Lincoln are inexhaustible, and to 
Kentuckians familiar with both, his form, features and 
love of fun irresistibly called up that prince of rough wits and 
good fellows, old Ben Hardin, who was his neighbor in 
Kentucky. 

Lincoln's administration witnessed the culmination of sec- 
tional passion into sectional strife, the warfare of giants. Af- 
ter the election, in 1860, South Carolina seceded and was 
quickly followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, 
Louisiana and Texas, and in February, 18G1, the government 
of the Confederate States was organized. Four years of terri- 
ble warfare now followed, in which at first the Seceded 
States were almost invariably successful, but eventually the 
Union forces triumphed and the war ceased. 

Lincoln was again elected, (in 1864), and inaugurated on 
the 4th of March, 1865. On the evening of the 14th day of 
April, 1865, he was assassinated in a private box in Ford's 
theater, by John Wilkes Booth, a crazy though talented son 
of the emminent actor Junius Brutus Booth, whose lunacy and 
genius he seems to have inherited in equal degree. His ob- 
ject was merely to obtain a notoriety that he valued as fame, 
for he was a staunch Union man. 



390 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

It was sought to be proved that the assassination of Lin- 
cohi was brought about with the aid and consent of Jeff Davis 
and other Confederate leaders, but on the trial of Harold, 
Payne, Atzerott and others implicated, it was clearly shown 
to be the wild conception of Booth and a few of his com- 
rades as crack-brained as himself. Had Davis been in any 
way connected with the scheme, he would have been tried 
for it and executed, after he was taken prisoner. 

Lincoln's term of ojffice thus lasted but four years and 
forty days, and another was added to the list of Ameri- 
ca's Presidents that had died in the harness. 

To briefly enumerate the eventful occurrences of his ad- 
ministration they were the secession of MississiiDpi, Alaba- 
ma, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, 
North Carolina, Missouri and Arkansas; the organization of 
the Southern Confederacy ; the attack on Sumpter ; the 
naval battle of the Merrimac and Monitor; the numerous 
battles of the war ; the emancipation proclamation ; the ad- 
mission of the western part of Virginia as a State, the ad- 
mission of Nevada ; the naval battle of the Ahi])ama and 
Kearsage; the fall of Richmond ; the surrender of Lee and 
Johnson ; and the assassination of the President himself. 



392 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OP 



ANDREW JOHNSON. 



Andrew Johnson was born in North Carolina, December 
29, 1808, and died July 31, 1875. He was a resident of 
Tennessee when elected Vice-President, and on Lincoln's 
death became President, being inaugurated April 15, 1865. 
Johnson was a man of strict integrity, but obstinate, dogmatic 
and self-willed. He was thoroughly patriotic and utterly 
fearless in the discharge of his duty. He put the machinery 
of the army and the police in motion to apprehend Booth 
and his companions, aiid on the 26th of April, Booth was 
surrounded in a barn, where he had been forced to take ref- 
uge on account of a fractured ankle, and refusing to surren- 
der, he was fired upon and killed. 

His companion, a young man named Harold, was taken at 
the time and afterwards hung at the same time with Louis 
Payne Powell, Atzerott and Mrs. Mary E. Surratt. The 
execution of the latter was nothing more than judicial mur- 
der, and will ever remain a foul blot upon all connected with 
it. The execution of the others was well deserved. John- 
son now began to differ greatly with his party. He held that 
a State had no right to secede, and that though in rebellion 
they had all along been members of the Union. 

This was also the doctrine of the Republican party until 
they became successful, and then they held that the seceded 
States were conquered provinces and should be treated as 
such. His unwillingness to submit to partisan dictation led 
to his impeachment, the removal of Stanton — who aimed to 
be an autocrat — being made the pretext. 

A great many new political ideas were advanced by the 
Republicans when they sought to secure the impeachment 



ANDREW JOHNSONo 393 

of Johnson, one of them being that the Vice-President, on 
succeeding to the Presidency, through the death of the 
President, was then merely a substitute filling out an unex- 
pired term, and not really a President. 

As such substitute they held that he was bound by the 
acts of the dead man, and had no right to displace Cabinet 
officers appointed by him. This was contrary to all prece- 
dent, as well as to common sense, and the few Republican 
Senators named had too much decency to stultify themselves 
by going upon the record as sharers in such a belief. 

Amongst the Republicans were still to be found four Sena- 
tors who had sufficient respect for honesty and decency, and 
sufficient disregard for partisan malice to vote for the ac- 
quittal. The names of these men should be remembered : 
they were Grimes of Iowa, Edmunds of Vermont, Trumbull 
of Illinois and Fessenden of Maine. Johnson was acquitted 
of the charges brought against him and Stanton, whose 
tyranny and insolence led to his dismissal, resigned his posi- 
tion as Secretary of War, he having been reinstated by 
Congress. 

Of Johnson's administration the principal events were the 
completion of an Atlantic cable, the admission of Nebraska, 
the purchase of Alaska, the amnesty proclamation, the 
adoption of the Constitutional amendments, the Stanton- 
Grant difficulty, and the Johnson impeachment trial. 





^^^^/^-^ 



OO^C^ 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 395 

ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



Ulysses S. Grant was bom April 27, 1822, in the State of 
Ohio, and after his successful military career, he was in- 
augurated President of the United States March 4, 1869. 
A graduate of West Point, Grant's career has been an ex- 
ceedingly checked one. Prior to the civil war he had been 
allowed to resign from the army and was eking out a miser- 
able subsistence on a farm near St. Louis. If the old citi- 
zens of the county are to be believed, his fondness for stimu- 
lants was excessive and kept his family reduced to the most 
bitter poverty. 

Though not the equal of Sherman or Thomas in military 
skill, he was luckier than either, and being appointed Com- 
mander-in-chief at a time when further experiments in 
search of a general were felt to be useless, he succeeded by 
means of an unlimited number of men in overcomino: the 
army of Lee and the Confederacy was conquered. This 
paved the way to the Presidency which he held for two 
terms. Grant's military operations in Virginia bear no com- 
parison with those of McLellan so far as strategy is con- 
cerned, and his whole dependence seems to have been in the 
vast superiority of his forces. At Cold Harbor, in an as- 
sault upon Lee's lines, he lost ten thousand men in less than 
twenty minutes. 

Neither a statesman nor a politician, and possessing an 
inordinate greed for wealth. Grant's civil administration was 
cursed with more of fraud and corruption than that of any 
other President. If his associates are to be believed, he 
shared in such infamies as those of the whisky ring, and 
indeed but few persons of either party ever doubted this. 



396 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Grant's moral sense is exceedingly obtuse, and he repre- 
sents all that is sordid and disreputable in American politics. 
For years after his second term of office he figured as the 
great national pauper, ever ready for a gift or a benefac- 
tion, and did not seem to realize anything shameful or 
extraordinary in this hat-passing for a man who had occu- 
pied the office of chief executive of the United States. 

A man of undoubted firmness, and of more talent than 
even the most of his friends have credited him with possess- 
ing. Grant lacked dignity, moral rectitude, and that sense 
of fitness usually inborn in all Americans. 

The most eventful occurrences of his administration were 
the completion of the Pacific railroad, the adoption of the 
Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, the great Chicago 
fire, the settlement of the Alabama claims, the adjustment 
of the Northwestern boundary, the war with the Modoc In- 
dians, the great financial panic of 1873, the Centennial ex- 
hibition, the Custer massacre, the re-admission of Virginia, 
Mississippi and Texas, the Credit Mobilier infamies and ex- 
posures, the St. Louis whisky ring, the deaths of Generals 
Robert E. Lee and George H. Thomas, Admiral Farragut, 
Horace Greeley, Charles Sumner and Andrew Johnson; the 
admission of Colorado to the Union and the San Domingo 
scheme. 



398 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



E. B. HAYES. 



Rutherford B. Ha3^es represents the crowning infamy of 
the Republican party — the theft of the Presidency. He was 
born in Vermont, some accounts say Ohio, October 4, 
1822, but was a citizen of Oliio at the time of his inaugura- 
tion. His opponent was Samuel el. Tilden, wlio was elected 
to the office out of which he was defrauded by the infamous 
majority of the Electoral Commission. 

Going into office under the peculiar circumstances which 
surrounded its acquisition, Hayes made a noble effort to blot 
that stain from the remembrance of the people by a fair and 
judicious administration. The persecution of the Southern 
States, which under Grant had been delivered over to the 
carpet-baggers and other thieves and scoundrels, ceased ; the 
better elements were allowed an opportunity to again place 
the country in a condition of prosperity, and the effect was 
wonderful. 

The property-holders of the reconstructed States had been 
taxed and robbed in every conceivable manner, and the in- 
dustries and progress of that section completely paralyzed. 
Under Hayes' administration this was changed, and the re- 
cuperation was immediate and wonderful. The remonetiza- 
tion of silver was one of the measures of this administration 
and received the President's veto. This was plainly a move 
in the wrong direction, and the bill w^as passed over his 
veto, which was in the interest of the banks and the bond- 
holders. 

The most important events of Hayes' administration were 
the removal of troops from the Southern States, and the non- 
interference of the Federal authorities wnth State legisla- 
tion in that section; the Nez Perces war; the remonetiza- 
tion of silver, the resumption of specie payments, and the 
inauguration of Hayes on the 5th of March — the 4th falling 
upon Sunday. 



400 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



JAMES A. GAKFIELD. 



James Abram Garfield, was born at Orange, Cuj^ahoga 
county, Ohio, November 19, 1831. His early life was a 
brave struggle against poverty, but he succeeded in accom- 
plishing a College education, and at the breaking out of the 
civil war was a professor in Hiram College in his native State. 

During the war Garfield rose to the rank of a Major- 
General, but gained no particular laurels as a soldier. 
While serving in the army he was elected to Congress, and 
his political life, thus begun, was continued for seventeen 
years. 

In 1879 he was elected to the United States Senate — 
just twenty years before (1859) he had been elected to the 
Ohio State Senate — but the Kepublican Presidential Conven- 
tion nominated him for President, and his place in the Sen- 
ate was never occupied by him. His administration promised 
well ; the prosecution of the star-route thieves was begun, 
and it seemed as if the rogues and barnacles of Republican- 
ism were about to suffer. 

From the manner in which Garfield began his administra- 
tration it is but justice to believe that he intended to give 
to the country a fair, equitable and honest government. 
While the measures by which the State of Indiana was 
carried for the Republicans can meet with the approbation 
of no honest or patriotic man, yet, from the inauguration of 
the prosecution of the Star-route thieves we must conclude 
that Garfield, once in office, had made up his mind to a 
rigid and correct performance of his duty. 

On the 2d of July, 1881, while at the depot of the Balti- 
more and Ohio railwav, In Washington City, he was twice 



JAMES A. GARFIELD. 401 

fired upon by Charles Jules Guiteau, and was mortally 
wounded. Guiteau was one of the peculiar products of Re- 
publican civilization, which fancies that its acts are superior 
to the law that guides and controls ordinary mortals. 

He was the outgrowth of the sentiment that could worship 
as a saint a reckless murderer and instigator of outrage, arson 
and assassination. Guiteau was a Stalwart Republican, while 
Garfield represented the milder and better wing of the party 
— the Half-breed or Liberal winfy. 

Garfield died at Long Branch on the 19th day of Septem- 
ber, 1881, and his funeral services were held at the Capitol, 
in Washington, on the 23d of September, and his remains 
then taken to Cleveland, Ohio, for burial. Guiteau, his 
assassin, was tried in Washington, and sentenced to be hung 
June 30, 1882, which sentence was carried into effect. 
Guiteau was arraigned October 14, 1881, but his trial was 
not completed until the 25th of January, 1882. 

That the assassin was insane is probable, but his insanity 
was rather that of miscalculation than of irresponsibility. 
He fancied that he would become as great a hero with the 
Stalwarts as John Brown had with the rank and file of the 
party, and confidently expected their undying gratitude, an 
early deliverance from durance, and an exalted position in 
their ranks. 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 403 



CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



Chester Allan Arthur — the successor of Garfield in the 
Presidential chair — was born in Vermont, October 5, 1830, 
and was inaugurated September 20, 1881. He was a well- 
known New York politician, one of the Grant machine men, 
and had been mixed up in all the questionable political prac- 
tices of his clique. He was by profession a lawyer, but was 
more a politician than an attorney, and was collector at the 
port of New York for some years. 

Under Arthur the prosecution of the Star-route thieves 
was lamely conducted, and in consequence they escaped pun- 
ishment. Some of the indictments were held off so lons^ that 
the accused were allowed to escape under the statute of limi- 
tations, and those who were prosecuted had little difficulty in 
escaping from coat-of-arms Brewster and asinine though ego- 
tistical George Bliss. The trials enabled the administration 
to fee, in an extravagant manner, several of its incompetent 
creatures, and thousands of dollars were uselessly expended. 

The chief events of this administration have been the trial 
and conviction of Charles J. Guiteau, the cabinet difficulties, 
the Star-route farce, the great fishing spree of Arthur to the 
Yellowstone, and the number of new coats and breeches 
ordered by the President. To do Arthur justice, however, 
it should be added that his administration has been neora- 
lively good ; that is, he has not done as poorly as he might 
have done. He has entertained liberally and like a gentle- 
man, has kept remarkably free of all rings, and except in 
Star-route matters has made but few lamentable failures. 
His administration should have the credit of being the best 
dressed one the country has ever seen. 



404 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER LX. 

EARLY AMERICAN POLITICS. 



DUTIES OF CITIZENSHIP. ITS PROFITS AND PRIVILEGES. PROPER 

METHODS OF STUDYING OUR INSTITUTIONS. TRYING SITUATIONS. 

INTERPRETERS OF THE CONSTITUTION. OUR UNTRAMMELLED 

FRANCHISE. WHO MAY ASPIRE TO POSITION. HONOR AND IN- 
TELLECT THE TEST OF MANHOOD. THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE. 

IMPORTANT STATIONS. A LASTING VALUE. A POLITICAL 

GUIDE-BOOK. PROTEST AGAINST TYRANNY. THE FIRST AMERI- 
CAN CONGRESS. THE CONVENTION OF 1774. NON-INTERCOURSE 

RESOLUTIONS. THE FIRST GUN FOR LIBERTY. THE COLONIAL 

CONGRESS. WASHINGTON MADE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. DE- 
PARTMENTS ESTABLISHED. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. BIRTH OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ARTICLES RATIFIED. STRONG GOVERNMENT WHIGS. PAR- 

TICULARIST WHIGS FIRST POLITICAL PARTIES. FIFTEEN FOR- 
GOTTEN PRESIDENTS. 

In return for the inestimable boon of civil and religious 
freedom, which is bestowed upon and guaranteed to the 
American citizen by that grandest of all human documents, 
our deathless Constitution, it should be the aim of every 
one — not only of the native born, but also of the adopted 
citizen of foreign nationality — to so study the history and 
course of political events that he may intelligently aid in the 
dissemination and preservation of the ideas and sentiments 
that animated the souls of the founders of our glorious Re- 
public, last born and grandest nurtured of all the sister 
bands of nations. 

To acquire the knowledge necessary to fit the citizen for 
the exercise of the privilege of franchise, no method is more 
productive of good results than the study of the lives and ac- 
tions of our prominent men and the noting of their course and 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 405 

conduct in the difficult and trying situations in which the 
unraveling of political problems may have placed them. As 
the counsellor and the jurist must interpret the statutes and 
principles of law which are laid down in the books, so the 
statesman must unfold the hidden or ambiguons meanings of 
that grander book of human liberty, the second and greatest 
Magna Charta that has sprung into existence amongst Eng- 
lish speaking races. 

Untrammelled by any required accident of birth or for- 
tune to fit him for a seat in either State or National Legis- 
lature, the lives of our statesmen are guide-books by which 
the poorest and lowliest in the land may trace out his course 
to fortune and to fame. 

"Low birth and iron fortune, 
Twin jailors of the daring heart" 

in other lands, have, in free America, thank Heaven ! no 
time-honored power to beat down aspiration and to humble 
honorable ambition. Here the battle is to the brave of 
heart and true of soul; the race to him whose intellect alone 
exalts him above his fellows. 

In such a land as this, knowledge becomes truly power, 
and nowhere else is study so amply repaid as here, where 
toil so certainly and swiftly finds its recompense. Is it then 
too much to ask that those who exercise the rights and pow- 
ers of the ballot should understand its import, that they may 
use it intelligently and for the greatest good of themselves 
and others? The dreaming youth of to-day may in the 
next decade become a Representative in the halls of Con- 
gress, and the self-exiled citizen of Europe may, in the 
grand impartiality of American appreciation, be selected to 
fill no less important a station. Each, therefore, should 



406 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

give to all subjects of political importance sufficient time 
and study to comprehend the duties of these positions. 

In order that this work may have a lasting value — that of 
being a reliable and comprehensive reference book on all 
subjects of political interest — we herewith give an accurate 
synopsis of the various steps in the formation and guidance 
of the affairs of the United States, from the inception of the 
Revolution down to the present day, thus condensing a library 
of political information in a single volume. 

1765. 

In 1765 so odious had become the Navigation Laws, 
Stamp Acts and other oppressive enactments of England, that 
the Massachusetts House of Representatives recommended a 
Congress of Delegates from all of the Colonies to protest 
against these tyrannical measures. This Congress was held in 
New York on the first Tuesday in October, 1765, and Repre- 
sentatives were present from all of the Colonies except New 
Hampshire. Timothy Ruggles was elected its President. 
This Congress recommended the Colonies to send special 
agents with petitions to the King of England praying a re- 
peal of the onerous measures. One of these special agents 
was Dr. Franklin of Pennsylvania. 

1774. 

On the 5th day of September, in this year, another 
Convention, or Congress, of Delegates from the American 
Colonies met at Philadelphia and resolved on non-commer- 
cial intercourse with Great Britain until all duties, imports, 
etc., had been repealed by the English Parliament. 

1775. 

In April of this year the skirmish between the British 
regulars and some of the Massachusetts militia occurred, 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 407 

and in May the Congress again met. An army was now 
organized, Washington appointed Commander-In Chief, and 
$3,000,000 of paper money issued; each Colony to pay its 
part in redeeming this currency. A general post office was 
established, and an address to the King and people of Great 
Britain was published. There was a second meeting of this 
Congress — in September — when a navy was organized, a 
treasury department created and a further issue of money 
made. The Colonies were now declared by England to be 
in a state of rebellion, and war measures were begun. 

1776. 

Prior to this time the political parties of our Colonies 
were the same as those of the mother country — Whig 
and Tory — and may be said to have been only heredi- 
tary likes and dislikes, having no importance so far as 
American intersts were concerned, and can scarcely be digni- 
fied by the name of politics. Richard Henry Lee, of Vir- 
ginia, laid the basis for the future organization of parties 
when, on the the 7th of June, of this year, he offered the 
resolution that, 

* 'These United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free 
and independent States ; that they are absolved from all 
allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political con- 
nection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and 
ought to be, totally dissolved." On the 10th day of June a 
committee consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, 
Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Living- 
stone was appointed to draw up a Declaration of Independ- 
ence, and nearly a month later, (July 4th), this masterpiece 
of Jefferson's handiwork was promulgated to the world and 
the words Whig and Tory assumed a well-defined signifi- 



408 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

cance when applied to American politics. The Whig was 
then a patriot and the Tory a traitor to his country. 

On the 11th day of June (1776) a committee had been 
appointed to prepare articles of confederation. This com- 
mittee was composed of one member from each colony. The 
report they submitted was deferred from the 20th of August, 
1776, to the 7th of April, 

and after much debate was adopted on the 15th day of No- 
vember of the same year. The confederacy was to be 
styled '*The United States of America," and was to be *' a 
firm league of friendship" between the Colonies. It was 
next submitted to the States, and their Legislatures author- 
izing their Delegates in Congress to ratify it, the articles 
were ordered engrossed on the 26th day of June, 

1778. 

Virginia, Massachusetts Bay, South Carolina, Pennsylva- 
nia, New Hampshire, Rhode Ishind,New York and Connecti- 
cut signed July 9th ; Georgia, July 21st ; North Carolina, July 
24th; New Jersey, November 26th. In this year the first 
treaty of the United States with any foreign nation ( that 
with France) was made. Delaware did not sign the league 

until February 22, 

1779. 

There being a conflict between the States and the gover- 
mental power as to which the Crown lands should vest in, 
Maryland refused to sign until this dispute was settled, which 



occuring in 



1781. 



She ratified the articles on the 1st day of March, of that 
year. There was no further change in the form of govern- 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 409 

ment f or some years, but the articles of confederation were 
found, after a short time, to be inadequate, and there was 
much concern and discussion in regard to these deficiencies, 
which were not to be remedied for several years. 

1783. 

In th43 month of June, of this year, a small body of mu- 
tineers from the Continental army surrounded and insulted 
the Congress then in session in Philadelphia. Failing to re- 
ceive protection from the State executive — to whom they 
applied — the members removed first to Princeton, New 
Jersey, and later to Annapolis, the latter being a more con- 
venient point. These circumstances led to the selection of 
a place for the permanent seat of government, or rather of 
two sites, for it is not generally known that one had been 
selected upon the Delaware and another upon the Potomac. 
The double choice was on account of sectional jealousy. In 
December, 

1784, 

It was resolved to appropriate a sum of money for the pur- 
chase of a district upon the banks of the Delaware, but as 
the assent of nine States was necessary for this purpose the 
Southern States succeeded in defeatinoj the measure. Penn- 
sylvania was now anxious for its establishment at Philadel- 
phia again. New York and the Eastern States wished it lo- 
cated in New York and the Southern States desired it to be 
fixed on the Potomac. A majority could not agree at this 
session, and a coalition between the Southern members, a 
few of the Northern, and the friends of Philadelphia suc- 
ceeded the next session in giving it to Philadelphia for ten 
years and to then transfer it finally to the Potomac. The time 
was fixed at ten years to enable a site to be selected and 



410 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

goverment buildings completed for the various departments. 
In order to confer upon the general goverment additional 
powers and also to provide a Constitution, a convention 
gathered at Philadelphia May 14th, 

1787. 

Of this convention Washington was elected President. The 
speeches immediately preceding the convening of this con- 
vention, especially by the statesmen of Virginia, and the 
debates in the Assembly are unequalled for depth and sagac- 
ity. In the light of after events, some of the speakers seem 
to have been endowed w ith prophetic power, and the mass 
of the arguments bear a wonderful degree of political wis- 
dom. During this convention our present Constitution, 
with the exception of the amendments, was adopted, and the 
operation of the goverment, as we now see it, was begun on 
the 30th day of April, 

1789; 

George Washington being on that day inaugurated first Presi- 
dent of the United States. The first regularly constituted 
Congress of the United States had already met on the 4th 
of March of this year. Prior to this date — from the 5th of 
September, 1774, to the last date — there had been fifteen 
Presidents of the Continental and Confederation Cono^resses, 
in the order following: 

1774. Peyton Randolph, Virginia, September 5; Henry 
Middleton, South Carolina, October 22. 

1775. Peyton Rand()l[)h, Virginia, May 10; John Han- 
cock, Massachusetts, May 24. 

1777. Henry Laurens, South Carolina, November 1. 

1778. John Jay, New York, December 10. 

1779. Samuel Huntington, Connecticut, September 28. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDETCKS. 411 

1781. Thomas McKean, Delaware, July 10; John Han- 
son, Maryland, November 5, 

1782. Elias Boudinot, New Jersey, November 4. 

1783. Thomas Mifflin, Pennsylvania, November 3. 

1784. Eichard Henry Lee, Virginia, November 30. 

1786. Nathaniel Gorham, Massachusetts, June 6. 

1787. Arthur St. Clair, Pennsylvania, February 2. 

1788. Cyrus Griffin, Virginia, January 22. 

Thus we have the political affairs brought down in brief 
to the inauguration of George Washington and up to this 
time, as is seen, no disturbing questions had arisen upon 
which to base opposition parties. The old partisan spirit 
of the Whig, or patriot, against the Tory, or supporter of 
monarchical English rule in America, could not long continue, 
as the latter had either all fled the country or abandoned 
all show of opposition, and settled down to a tacit support 
of the new order of affairs. But, as hinted above, the very 
Declaration of Independence contained in it the seeds of a 
healthy antagonism that was to originate two parties. 

This antagonism has so far served a beneficial purpose in 
so nearly evenly balancing the administration and opposition 
parties that defeat is almost certain to accrue from any 
gross breach of faith on the part of the Executive or Rep- 
resentative powers toward the people. This antagonistic 
spirit first show^ed itself when the question of the Union of 
the States was broached, one party taking the stand that a 
strong government was absolutely necessary ; the other, that 
the rights of the States w^ere sovereign and paramount to 
all other obligations. The first of these parties was known 
as that of the Strong Government Whigs ; the other was 
known as the Particularist party or Particularist Whigs. 

Some of the first party wanted an extremely strong cen- 



412 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

tral government, modelled after that of England, only want- 
ing, of course, in king and hereditary aristocracy. All of 
them desired the delegated powers of the general govern- 
ment to dominate those of the States, while the Particular- 
ists held that the central government, being the creation of 
the States, must yield to them in all matters of local gov- 
ernment and authority; in other words, that within her own 
borders the State was supreme. This was the first division 
of the American people into political parties. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 413 



CHAPTER LXI. 

POLITICAL HISTORY FROM 1788 TO 1815. 



A FARCICAL POLITICAL CONTEST. OPPOSING PARTIES. FEDERAL- 
ISTS AND ANTI- FEDERALISTS. THE CONSTITUTION GOES INTO 

EFFECT. GENERAL WASHINGTON INAUGURATED. JOHN ADAMS 

VICE PRESIDENT. A NOBLE CHARACTER. NORTH CAROLINA 

AND RHODE ISLAND RATIFY. MADISON JOINS THE OPPOSITION. 

THE FIRST APPORTIONMENT OF REPRESENTATION. VERMONT 

AND KENTUCKY ADMITTED INTO THE UNION. WASHINGTON'S 

UNANIMOUS NOMINATION. CONTEST BETWEEN FEDERALISTS AND 

REPUBLICANS FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. JEFFERSON RETIRES FROM 

THE CABINET. AN ABLE STATESMAN. WASHINGTON'S FARE- 
WELL ADDRESS. ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. THE ALIEN AND 

SEDITION LAWS. THE KENTUCKY AND VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS. 

PARTY SPIRIT INCREASES. SECOND CONTEST BETWEEN ADAMS 

AND JEFFERSON. DEFECTS OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE. 



MODE OF VOTING. A TIE VOTE. SEAT OF GOVERNMENT RE- 
MOVED TO WASHINGTON. THE FIRST PARTY PLATFORM. THE 

FIRST CAUCUS. CONGRESSIONAL CONVENTIONS. CHANGE IN 

ELECTORAL METHODS. JEFFERSON'S SECOND ELECTION. RE- 
PUBLICANS ADOPT THE NAME OP DEMOCRATS. THE PEOPLE'S 

PARTY. FEDERALIST DEFEATS. OUR SECOND FOREIGN WAR. 

THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. ITS PRINCIPLES. THE FIRST 

NATIONAL BANK BILL. 

It was necessary that nine of the thirteen States should 
ratify the Constitution before the same should become 
binding upon any of them, and then it was to have no 
power over any of the others. Now began a fierce contest 
amongst political leaders, some for, and some against the 
ratification, and the Strong Government Whigs, or Broad 
Constructionists, under the leadership of Hamilton, Madison 
and others, assumed the title of Federals or Federalists. 
The Particularist Whigs, or Close Constructionists, followed 
the banner of Samuel Adams, James Mason, Patrick Henry 
and other States' Rights leaders, and were known as Anti- 



414 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Federals. Washington, in whom the military spirit ever 
largely predominated, threw his over-powering weight in the 
scale, and decided the otherwise more than doubtful conflict 
in favor of the Federal party. 

On the 2nd day of July, 1788, Congress was notified that 
the nine States necessary, had been secured, and accordingly 
the first Wednesday in March, of the succeeding year, was 
named as the day upon which the Constitution should go 
into effect. George Washington and John Adams were 
nominated for President and Vice-President by popular 
acclaim, and without opposition. With the calm nobility of 
character, for which he was conspicuous in all his actions, 
Washington made up his Cabinet from the leaders of the 
two parties, having no partisan rancor, and no doubt hoping 
to allay all political strife. 

In 1789, North Carolina, which had rejected the Consti- 
tution, re-considered its action in November, 1789, and was 
followed by a similar action on the part of Khode Island, in 
May, 1790. James Madison left the Federalists and went over 
to their enemies, but the former were successful in the elec- 
tion for members of the second Congress. Eepresentation 
was now fixed at thirty-three thousand of population for 
each Congressional district. During the third Congress, 
Vermont and Kentucky were admitted to the sisterhood of 
States. Party bitterness increased continually, but in 

1793 

Washington was again nominated by the unanimous voice of 
the people for President. The Federalists nominated for 
Vice-President, John Adams, of Massachusetts, and their 
opponents, now known as Republicans, conferred the honor 
of a nomination for the same ofiice on George Clinton, of New 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 415 

York. Again victory perched upon the banners of the Fed- 
eralists. In December of this year, Thomas Jefferson, prob- 
ably the ablest statesman America has ever produced, retired 
from his position, in Washington's Cabinet, of Secretary of 
State, and devoted himself to planning the next political 
campaign. He was the leader of the Republicans, and the 
author of many of the ablest of political essays. In August, 

1796, 

Washington announced in his farewell address, his deter- 
mination to retire from public life, and the now thoroughly 
organized Federal and Republican parties placed in the field 
their strongest men. John Adams and Thomas Pinckney, 
were the standard bearers of Federalism, and Thomas Jeff- 
erson and Aaron Burr, the champions of Republicanism. 
On count, in the Electoral College, the votes were found to 
be: John Adams, 71; Thomas Jefferson, 69; Thomas 
Pinckney, 59 ; Aaron Burr, 30; Samuel Adams, 15; Oliver 
Ellsworth, 11; George Clinton, 7; John Jay, 5; James 
Iredell, 3; George Washington, 2; John Henry, 2; S. 
Johnson, 2, and Charles C. Pinckney, 1. And Adams was 
made President and Jefferson Vice-President. This showed 
an immense gain by the Republicans. 

1798. 

During this administration the * ' Alien and Sedition Law ' ' 
was passed, conferring dangerous, tyrannical and excessive 
authority upon the President. This called out the Ken- 
tucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798 ; Jefferson being 
father of the former, and Madison of the latter. Party 
malice continued to increase, especially as the Federalists 
saw that their doctrines were becoming unpopular. In 



416 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

1800 

they nominated John Adams again for President, and C. C. 
Pinckney for Vice-President. The Republican candidates, 
nominated by a Congressional Convention held in Philadel- 
phia, were Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, for President 
and Vice-President. The method pursued in the Electoral 
College at that time had even greater defects than that of 
the present day, though by either it is extremely easy for 
the will of the people to be nullified, and the candidate hav- 
ing the largest popular vote to be defeated. 

Each elector was required to vote for two persons, and in 
the count, the one having the highest number of votes was 
declared President, and the one receiving the next highest 
became Vice-President. The folly of this mode became 
apparent when it was found that Jefferson had 73 votes. 
Burr 73, Adams 65 and Pinckney 64. The votes for Jef- 
ferson and Burr being a tie, as was to be expected when the 
contest was a party one, with two men on opposing tickets. 
The election went into the House of Representatives and 
gave rise to a great deal of strife and bitterness, almost 
leading to warfare. Congress met this year — November 17 
— at Washington, whither the seat of government had been 
removed the preceding summer. 

Luckily the will of the people was carried out and on 
the thirty-sixth ballot in the House, that grand old father 
of the Democratic party, Thomas Jefferson, was declared 
President and Aaron Burr, Vice-President. Outside of the 
success of the Jeffersonian party and the triumph of De- 
mocracy over a thinly disguised attempt at an official aris- 
tocracy, this campaign was notal)le as the first in which a 
Platform was adopted and a nomination made by a Con- 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 417 

gressional caucus, or convention. These were inventions of 
the Republicans. In 

1804 

the candidates of both parties were nominated by Congres- 
sional Conventions, the Federalists having borrowed this inno- 
vation of their foes. On the 25th day of September, of 
this year, in order to do away with the danger alluded to, 
in the case of the last election, an amendment to the Consti- 
tution was adopted requiring electors to ballot for President 
and Vice-President separately. Jefferson and Clinton were 
the Republican nominees this year and Charles C. Pinckney 
and Rufus King, those of the Federalists. Again the Repub- 
licans were successful and in 

1805 

they dropped that name and called themselves Democrats, 
a title which they have retained ever since, through every 
vicissitude of success and reverse, and to-day, as in 1805, 
we find them fighting the battles of the people against fraud, 
corruption, official aristocracy and every species of monop- 
oly and misrule. The people had now become thoroughly 
imbued with Jefferson's ideas as to the Democratic simplic- 
ity that should pervade all the institutions of the young 
republic and in 

1808 

we find his Secretary of State, James Madison, the nomi- 
nee of the Democratic party. George Clinton was named 
for the Vice-Presidency on this ticket, while the Federalists 
supported C. C. Pinckney for the chief executive office in 
the gift of the people. Madison and Clinton were elected 
by an overwhelming majority. In May, 



418 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

1813, 

a Conofressional Convention re-nominated Madison forPresi- 
dent and named John Langdon for Vice-President. The 
latter was obliged to decline the nomination on account of 
his great age, and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts was 
put on the ticket for the second place. 

So feeble had the once powerful Federalist party now 
become, that they did not dare the experiment of naming 
candidates in caucus, but in September a convention of all 
the elements opposed to Madison was held in New York 
City. Eleven States were represented and the delegates 
thus assembled put in nomination DeWitt Clinton and Jared 
Ingersoll, for President and Vice-President. Neither party 
offered a political platform, but went to the people on the 
merits of the Democratic party and the negative virtues of 
the opposition to it. The second of our foreign wars began 
in this administration and gave rise to the formation, in 

1815, 

of the first American Peace Party. A convention held at 
Hartford, in January, 1815, protested violently and in a 
slavish and unpatriotic manner against the conscription and 
draft of citizens. It contained the germs of secession and 
of the future Know Nothing and Abolition, or Black Re- 
publican parties, as it was at first known, to distinguish it 
from the original Republican (Democratic) party. Not only 
were there violent denunciations of the war, conscription, 
draft, enrollment of the militia, etc., but several amend- 
ments to the Constitution were proposed, of which the fol- 
lowing is a brief summary of their substance: 

Representation and direct taxation to be apportioned ac- 
cording to the number of free persons and apprentices, 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 411) 

(bound only for a term of years). Indians, slaves, etc., 
to be excluded from enumeration. 

Two thirds of both Houses of Congress necessary for ad- 
mission of new States. 

No embargo on American vessels in U. S. ports for 
periods longer than sixty days. 

Two-thirds of both Houses of Congress necessary to in- 
terdict foreign trade. 

Two-thirds of both Houses of Congress necessary to de- 
clare war against foreign nations, except in cases of invasion. 

Naturalized citizens to be ineliofiblc as Congressmen ov 
U. S. civil officers. 

No person to be elegible to two Presidential terms. 

Same State not to name the President twice in succession. 

This was in reality about the principles of the bulk of 
the Federalist party. During this term of Madison, the bill 
establishing the first National bank was passed and received 
his signature. The first Internal Improvement Bill was also 
passed, but vetoed by him. 



420 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER m. 

POLITICAL HISTORY FROM 1815 TO 1844, 



AN OVERWHELMING DEMOCRATIC SUCCESS. MONROE'S SECOND ELEC- 
TION. A WONDERFUL TRIUMPH. MISSOURI BECOMES A STATE. 

THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE MEASURES. FOUR CANDIDATES IN 

THE FIELD. THE CHOICE OF THE PEOPLE DEFEATED. A SEC- 
OND CRISIS. A CORRUPT COALITION. NATIONAL CONVENTION 

SYSTEM ADOPTED. INJUSTICE REBUKED. JACKSON'S APPOINT- 
MENTS. A FALSE ACCUSATION. THE NEW PARTY. THE 

DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. PUBLIC MONEYS REMOVED. CON- 
GRESSIONAL PAIRING OFF INVENTED. THE LOG CABIN AND HARD 

CIDER CAMPAIGN. ''TIPPECANOE AND TYLER TOO.'" DEMA- 
GOGICAL DEVICES. A WHIG SUCCESS. AN ABOLITIONIST CAN- 
DIDATE. HARRISON'S DEATH IN OFFICE. ANEW PARTY FORM- 
ING. THE BUFFALO PLATFORM. THE FIRST DARK HORSE. 

A CLOSE RACE. THE LIBERTY PARTY. THE WAR WITH MEX- 
ICO. TEXAS ANNEXED. FATE OF THE WILMOT PROVISO. 

ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 

1816. 

In 1816 the usual tactics of the opposing parties varied 
but little. The Democrats nominated James Monroe and 
Daniel D. Tompkins for first and second places on their 
ticket, while the Federalists named Rufus King for Presi- 
dent, but did not concentrate on any one for Vice-Presi- 
dent. So overwhelming was the success of the Democracy 
at this election, and so satisfactory was the administration 
of Monroe that in 

1820 

he had no opposition, but a single vote being cast against 
him in the Electoral College. Against Tompkins for Vice- 
President only fourteen votes were cast. In this year no 
nominations, nor enunciations of principles were made by 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 421 

either party, the voice and votes of the people being unan- 
imously in favor of Monroe. During his term of office 
Missouri became one of the States of the Union, its admis- 
sion ofivinof rise to the measures known as the * 'Missouri 

Compromise." 

1824. 

In 1824 we find four candidates in the field for President, 
viz. : Adrew Jackson, Democrat; John Quincy Adams, Fed- 
eralist; Wm. H. Crawford, Democrat, and Henry Clay, 
Wliiof. For Vice-President we find electoral votes cast for 
the following persons: for John C. Calhoun 182 votes; for 
Nathan Sanford 30 votes; for Nathaniel Macon 24 votes; 
for Andrew Jackson 13 votes ; for Martin VanBuren 9 
votes; for Henry Clay 2 votes. All of the Presidential 
candidates were running as Republican, or Democratic can- 
didates, but in 1824 both Mr. Clay and Mr. Adams figure as 
National Republicans, (Whigs.) Andrew Jackson re- 
ceived of the popular vote 155,872; of the electoral vote 
99 ; John Qiiincy Adams received of the popular vote 105,- 
321; of the electoral vote 84. Wm. H. Crawford received 
of the popular vote 44,282; of the electoral vote 41. 
Henry Clay received of the popular vote 46,587; of the 
electoral vote 37. 

Owing to the want of a sufficient majority of the elec- 
toral vote, Jackson, who was plainly the choice of the peo- 
ple by a very large majority, was defeated. The election, 
for the second time in the history of our politics, was 
thrown into the House of Representatives and resulted in 
the making of John Quincy Adams and John C. Calhoun 
President and Vice-President of the United States. 

The friends of Jackson always claimed,. and there is great 
room for belief in the truth of the charge, that this re- 



422 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

suit was brought about by a corrupt bargain between Clay 
and Adams. Political feeling between the parties was now 
intensely bitter. This campaign proved the end of the 
Congressional caucus system of nomination, and in 

1828. 

we find the National Convention system adopted. This 
was a move in the right direction and an immense improve- 
ment over the old plan. 

In this year the National Republicans (Whigs) nomina- 
ted John Quincy Adams and Richard Rush, while the De- 
mocracy named Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun. 
The head of the Democratic ticket received 178 electoral 
votes, while Mr. Adams got but 83, and thus the bargain of 
1824 was rebuked and Jackson's claim to the former elec- 
tion vindicated. 

Right here it may be well to explain a point always 
strongly urged against Jackson by his political opponents 
and those of the Democratic party, viz.: the replacing of 
Federal office holders by Democrats. Looking upon the 
seating of Adams as a fraud, he very rightly regarded all 
of his appointments as usurpations of his own privileges, 
and reo^ardinoj the receiver in much the same lio^ht as the 
thief, made short work of their official existence. This is 
no doubt the true cause of the famous rotation in office and 
the cry that *'to the victor belong the spoils." 

1831. 

The National Republicans held their convention this year 
in the month of December, at Baltimore, and put in nomi- 
nation Henry Clay and John Sergeant. The Democrats 
named Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun. They de- 
clared in their platform against removal from office /or inere 



CLEVELANt) AND HENDRICKS. 423 

difference of political opinion. Both parties issued ad- 
dresses (or, as we now call them, platforms) for the elucida- 
tion of their principles. This administration was chiefly 
remarkable for the removal of the public moneys from the 
United States Bank ; the Nullification Ordinances of South 
Carolina aud the appointment of Koger B. Taney to the 
Chief-Justiceship of the United States Supreme Court. In 

1836 

The Democratic National Convention met at Baltimore and 
nominated Martin VanBuren and R. M. Johnson. The 
Whio:s chose as their candidates William Henrv Harrison 
and Francis Granger. Again victory ranged itself with the 
Democrats. In this election W. P. Magnum received for 
President eleven electoral votes, Daniel Webster fourteen 
and Huo^h L. White twentv-six. For Vice-President Wil- 
Ham Smith received twenty-three electoral votes and John 
Tyler forty-seven. During this administration the custom 
of Congressional *' pairing off" was instituted. In 

1840. 

VanBuren was again the Democratic nominee for Presi- 
dent. Baltimore was selected for holding their convention, 
and a platform of principles was published. No candidate 
for Vice-President was named by the convention, though 
several were put in nomination by the various delegates, but 
before the election came off, Johnson was tacitly accepted 
as the candidate. 

The Whig Convention was held at Philadelphia, and Wm. 
Henry Harrison and John Tyler were nominated. This 
was a phenomenal campaign, and singularly enough found 
almost its parallel in 1848 when Taylor, another Whig 
candidate, fresh from his victorious career in Old Mexico, 



424 Life and public services of 

swept the count ly. The campaign of 1840 was the first of 
American political victories brought about by puerile con- 
ceits. ''Tippecanoe and Tyler too" was the rallying cry of 
the ''Hard Cider and log Cabin" campaign, and the silliest 
of sons^s and demosfos^ical devices carried the Whig: candid- 
ate into the Presidential Chair by the astonishing electoral 
vote of 234 to 60. James G. Birney, of Michigan, the 
Liberty (Abolitionist) candidate, received of the popular 
vote 7,059; of the electoral vote none. 

Just one month after his inauguration, (March 4, 1841), 
Harrison died and Tyler filled out his term of office as Presi- 
dent. During this administration the Abolition party be- 
gan to take shape ; opposing slavery in all forms in which 
it could be constitutionally fought, and the Democracy 
becoming tainted with the spirit of Abolitionism, split into 
two factions ; the free-soil portion coalescing wnth a cer- 
tain section of the Whigs and the Abolitionists, forming 
the Liberty party, which assembled in convention, at Buf- 
falo, in August, 1843, and announced its platform. 

1844. 

In May, 1844, the Democratic and Whig Convention met 
at Baltimore. Henry Clay and Theodore Frelinghuysen 
were the Whig nominees. In the Democratic Convention 
VanBuren was the strongest man, but the opposition to 
this candidate was sufficiently powerful to move and carry 
the nomination of James K. Polk, of Tennessee. Calhoun's 
friends led the opposition and can claim the honor of having 
been successful in inaugurating and playing the game now 
known as "bringing in a dark horse;" i, e. an unexpected 
or compromise candidate. George McDallas, of Pennsyl- 
vania, was the nominee for Vice-President. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 425 

The Abolitionists, or Liberty party put in nomination 
James G. Birney, of Michigan, who received of the popular 
vote 62,300; of the electoral vote nothing. 

The platforms of the Whig and Democratic parties were 
both elaborate affairs, but the Democrats carried the 
country, though with much less than their usual majority. 
This was owing to several causes, amongst which were 
running an unknown man against so popular a candidate as 
Henry Clay, the defection of the free-soil Democrats and 
the specious bid made for popular favor by the Whig plat- 
form. 

The war with Mexico, the annexation of Texas and the 
acquisition of other Mexican territory occurred during Polk's 
administration. The acquiring of this additional territory 
led to an increase in the anti-slavery agitation and the in- 
troduction of the celebrated Wilmot Proviso. This was, "that 
no portion of the territory acquired from Mexico should be 
open to the introduction of slavery." The fate of the meas- 
ure is too well known to require comment here. 



420 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER IV. 

POLITICAL HISTORY FROM 1844 TO 1864, 



THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION OF 1848. GENERAL TAYLOR NOMI- 
NATED BY THE WHIGS. THE FREE-SOIL DEMOCRATS. THE 

ABOLITIONIST NOMINEE. SPARTAN HEROISM. A GALLANT OLD 

HERO. PERFIDY AVENGED. DEAD AT THE WHITE HOUSE. 

SCOTT AND GRAHAM. ANOTHER DARK HORSE, A GRAND DEMO- 
CRATIC VICTORY. THE KANSAS TROUBLES. A PROMISCUOUS 

OPPOSITION. THE NATIONAL AMERICANS. THE KNOW-NOTHING 

SHIBBOLETH. A MASTERLY INACTIVITY. BUCK AND BRECK. 

FREMONT'S CHEAP NOTORIETY. A PATHFINDER BY PROXY. 

helper's impending crisis. A FANATICAL FOOL. JOHN 

BROWN'S PROTOTYPE. A SERVILE INSURRECTION. A RAT IN A 

HOLE. THE CHARLESTON CONVENTION. A STORMY SESSION. 

SUICIDAL POLICY. ADJOURNED TO BALTIMORE. SECEED- 

ING DELEGATIONS. BUTLER, OF MASSACHUSETTS. THE TWIN 

CONVENTIONS. DUAL NOMINATIONS. THE CONSTITUTIONAL 

UNION NOMINEES. THREE PROBABILITIES. THE CAMPAIGN OF 

1864. LINCOLN ASSASSINATED. JOHN WILKES BOOTH. 

1848. 

On the 21st day of May, 1848, the Democratic National 
Convention met at Baltimore, and after making an unusu- 
ally careful platform, nominated Lewis Cass, of Michigan, 
and Gen. William O. Butler of Kentucky. On the 8th day 
of June, the Whig Convention met at Philadelphia and also 
put forth an elaborate manifesto of principles. General 
Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana, and Milliard Fillmore, of New 
York, were the nominees of the party. The Free-soil Dem- 
ocrats selected Utica, New York, for their meeting, and 
nominated Martin VanBuren, of New York, and Charles 
Francis Adams, of Massachusetts, for candidates. Gerritt 
Smith, of New York, was the nominee of the Abolitionists. 

The race was between the Democrats and Whigs and was 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 427 

an exceedingly close one, but Gen. Taylor, fresh from the 
field of his fame at Buena^ Vista was rewarded by the ad- 
miring Americans with the highest office in their gift. 
His Spartan heroism and his invincible valor had so en- 
deared him to the masses, that even the well-drilled phalanxes 
of the grandest political party the world ever saw, went 
over in numbers to the gallant old hero, and the Democracy 
was defeated. 

It was a plain case of hero-worship, in which the bonds 
of party melted as wax before the martial ardor and 
love of bravery and pluck, that have ever distinguished 
American citizens. Thus, too, was avenged the perfidy of 
the preceding administration which had robbed him of all 
of his regular troops, only to make his victory at Buena Vis- 
ta, with American volunteers, the brighter. Sixteen months 
after his inauguration he lay a corpse in the Yfhite House, 
at Washington, his brave and noble soul having answered 
on the 8th day of July, 1850, to the heavenly roll-call. 

1853. 

The election of Taylor had in nowise strengthened the 
Whig cause, but it had given them the idea that by the selec- 
tion of another soldier they might repeat their success in the 
last campaign. When they met at Baltimore, in June, they 
therefore placed at the head of their ticket General Win- 
field Scott and named William A. Graham for Vice-Presi- 
dent. 

The Democrats who had held their Convention on the first 
day of June, in the same city, had nominated Franklin 
Pierce and William R. King, while the Free-soilers at 
Pittsburg, August 11, of this year, selected as their candi- 
date John P. Hale and George W. Julian. Again the Dem- 



428 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

ocratshad named an almost unknown man, while the Whigs 
had selected their most available candidate. 

The result showed, however, that the star of their destiny 
had forever set, and we find that of the electoral vote they 
received less than fifty (42) while the Democrats carried 
245. This stroke proved the dissolution of the Whig party, 
and so feeble had the other opponents of Democracy proved, 
that it seemed as if they would be left entirely without op- 
position. 

The Kansas conflict which occurred during this adminis- 
tration excited to tenfold fury the anti-slavery partisans of 
the country, and they were now joined by the disappointed 
Whigs, the disgruntled Democrats (Free-soilers), and 
ievery other of the opposition elements. They pledged 
ithemselves to oppose the extension of slavery and named 
'themselves the National Eepublican party. A new party, 
|the National Americans (Know Nothings) sprang into ex- 
istence and held a convention in February, 

1856, 

in Philadelphia, putting forth as their shibboleth that 
"America should be ruled by Americans'' and nominating 
as their candidate Millard Fillmore and Andrew Jackson 
Donelson. The Whigs, in their Convention at Baltimore in 
September of this year, contented with a masterly in- 
activity, offered no candidates of their own, but recom- 
mended those of the American party. The Democrats met 
at Cincinnati iu June and selected as their candidates 
James Buchanan and John C. Breckenridge. 

The Republican Convention met at Philadelphia in June 
and nominated John C. Frcemont and William L. Dayton as 
its candidates. Freemont — who had succeeded in marrying 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 429 

the daughter of the great Missouri Senator, Thomas Benton, 
much against the latter'swill — by utilizing the knowledge 
and experience of Kit Carson and other plains and mountain 
men had won considerable cheap popularity as *'the Path- 
finder," and it was hoped by his party that with this notoriety 
and the slogan of *'free men, free soil, Fremont," they 
miofht be able to foist him into the Presidential office a la 
Harrison, but it proved a failure, and again the Democrats 
seated their man. 

The vote secured by the opposition in this campaign — 114 
electoral votes ao:ainst 174 of the Democrats — showed its 
rapidly growing power. The Kansas troubles continued and 
even increased in magnitude ; Helper produced his ' 'Impend- 
ing Crisis" and war seemed inevitable. The idiotic old fa- 
natic, John Brown, stimulated by reckless knaves and vision- 
ary fools in the East, conceived a raid on Virginia, and with 
a following of men as desperate and as foolish as himself 
actually stormed, or rather burglarized the United States 
armory at Harpers' Ferry. 

This raid was modelled on that of Brown's prototype in 
the art inciting of servile insurrection — John A. Murrell — 
and its aims were almost identical. The slaves were to be 
aroused and armed, and the houses and families of the slave 
holders were to be given over to arson, pillage, outrage and 
murder. Luckily after a short career, in which robbery 
and murder played their part, these infamous wretches — 
part knaves and part fools — were cooped in an engine house 
where they eventually tamely submitted to capture, rather 
than make a bold dash for liberty and die like men. 

In his work of murder, on the broad Kansas prairies, the 
hand of «*old John Brown," (or *' Ossawattomie Brown,") 
as his disciples loved to call him, had never been known to 



430 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

falter, but the heroism of daring certain death was foreign 
to the fibre of his soul and, like a craven " rat in a hole," 
he submitted to capture and a well deserved felon's death on 
the scaffold. 

1860. 

In April, 1860, the Democratic leaders met in convention 
at Charleston, South Carolina. The Convention was called 
to order on the 23d of the month, but the balloting did not 
begin for more than a week thereafter (May 1st). As if 
bent on suicide, the party was torn by the wildest excite- 
ment and dissension, and after balloting for t-hree entire 
days and finding it impossible to agree upon candidates the 
Convention adjourned to meet in Baltimore June 18, 1860. 
Stormy debates engaged the body until the 22d, when it 
was proposed to begin balloting. 

Viro;inia now withdrew from the Convention and was 
followed by Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Caro- 
lina, California and Oregon. The delegates from Alabama, 
Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South 
Carolina and Texas had been denied their places by the 
Committee on Credentials. In this state of affairs, when 
the ballot was called, Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, 
retired and was followed by five other delegates. 

Those remaining proceeded with the balloting and nomi- 
nated Stephen A. Douglass for President. Senator Fitz- 
patrick was nominated for Vice-President, and declining 
the nomination, was succeeded by Herschel V. Johnson. 

The National Democratic Convention, made up of the 
secedino: deleo;ates and those ruled out of the other Conven- 
tion, met the same day and nominated John C. Brecken- 
ridge and Joseph Lane. 

A Constitutional Union party, which met at Baltimore on 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 431 

the 9th of May, 1860, had nominated John Bell and Edward 
Everett as its candidates. 

The Republicans held their Convention in Chicago, May 
16, 1860, and chose Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin 
as its champions. 

Owing to the excited state of public feeling, the foolish 
split in the Democratic party and the number of candidates 
in the field, three things were almost equally certain: first, 
that the fullest vote of the Republican party would be 
brought out; second, that its candidates would be elected; 
and third, that their election would be followed by the 
secession of most, if not all, of the Southern States. All 
of this actually occurred, and the war between the States, 
ending in the freeing of the slaves, followed. To follow out 
its years of battle, misery and destruction is no part of our 
intention. 

1864. • 

On the 7th day of June, 18()4, Lincoln was re-nominated 
by the Republicans for President and Andrew Johnson was 
selected for Vice-President. Gen. George B. McCIellan 
and George H. Pendleton were nominated by the Demo- 
crats, and the Republicans were again successful, holding, as 
they did, all the powers and patronage of the civil and mili- 
tary government, and unscrupulously using the same. On 
the 14th day of April, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated, in a 
private box in Ford's theatre, by John Wilkes Booth, an 
actor who had inherited the insanity as well us the genius of 
his distinguished father. 



432 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER V. 

POLITICAL HISTORY FROM 1864 TO 1881 



JOHNSON'S ADMINISTRATION. JUDICIAL MURDER. A REIGN OF 

TERROR. MILITARY BASTILES. SEWARD'S BOAST. THE CAM- 
PAIGN OF 1868. REPUBLICAN TACTICS. THE LIBERAL REPUB- 
LICAN PARTY. A FOOLISH ENDORSEMENT. THE DEMOCRATIC 

STRAIGHT-OUTS. GRANT AND WILSON. WHISKY RINGS AND 

CREDIT 3IOBILIERS. THE TEMPERANCE CANDIDATE. THE 

GREENBACKERS. THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION IN 187G. ELEC- 
TION OF TILDEN. THEFT OF THE PRESIDENCY. AN INFAxMOUS 

COMMISSION. PERJURED PARTISANS. A MISERABLE IMPOSTER. 

ARGUMENT TO ABOLISH THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE. A NOBLE 

MAN. BY FORCE OF ARMS. REAPING ITS REWARD. A PAL- 
TRY CREATURE. DEAD SEA FRUITS. STALWART AND HALF- 
BREED THE THIRD TERM DELEGATES. CORRUPT BARGAINS. 

A DEMOCRATIC MISTAKE. GREENBACK CANDIDATES. AN 

INTERESTING VOTE. REPUBLICAN DISSENSIONS. GUITEAU AS- 
SASSINATES GARFIELD. A TAILOR'S BLOCK. STAR-ROUTE 

PROSECUTIONS. A PERFECT FARCE. THIEVES TURNED LOOSE. 

The adaiinistration of Johnson, who filled out Lincoln's 
term was stained by the judicial murder of Mrs. Surratt, 
accused of complicity in the plans of Booth and his fellow 
conspirators. In extenuation of Johnson's non-interfer- 
ence to prevent this atrocity it must be remembered that 
the Republican party had established a reign of terror in 
which freedom of speech, action, and even worship had been 
denied to the citizen. 

Military bastiles had been established all over the land, 
and one of Lincoln's Cabinet Officers had even so far for- 
gotten what were the rights of an American freeman, that 
he boasted to an Enorlish officer that he could touch his bell 
and cause the arrest of any citizen in the land without legal 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 433 

process or any explanation. Here we have the official auto- 
cracy of the old enemies of the Democratic party carried 
to the extreme of despotism. 

1868. 

On the 20th day of May, 1868, the Republican National 
Convention assembled in Chicago. Here Gen. Ulysses S. 
Grant and Schuyler Colfax were nominated. The Democratic 
Convention met in New York on the ord day of July, 1868, 
and placed in nomination, Horatio Seymour, of New York, 
and Gen. Frank P. Blair, of Missouri. Again the peculiar, 
if not creditable tactics of the Republicans were practiced, 
and their electoral vote was largely in excess of that of 
the Democrats. 

1872. 

Drunk with unlimited power and reckless in its use, the ex- 
treme infamy of some of the means and measures employed 
by the Republicans, disgusted the honorable men of the 
party, and they split from the main body. These were the 
better elements of Republicanism ; the men who were not yet 
ready to behold the ruin of their country by the infamous 
corruption and shameless outrages of their comrades. These 
men organized the Liberal Republican party, and in Conven- 
tion in Cincinnati, May 1st, 1872, nominated Horace Greeley 
and B. Gratz Brown. 

The Democratic Convention met in Baltimore on the 9th 
day of June, and very foolishly endorsed the nominees of the 
Liberal Republican party, instead of presenting candidates 
of its own. After this action its folly was paralleled by the 
small gathering of Democrats at Louisville, who, on the 
3rd of September, nominated Charles O'Connor and John 
Quincy Adams. 



434 LIFE AND PUBLIC SEliVICES OF 

The regular Republican Convention, which met June 5th, 
at Philadelphia, re-nominated Grant for President and se- 
lected Henry Wilson for Vice-President. 

James Black, running for President on a Temperance 
ticket, received 5,608 of the popular votes. N. P. Banks 
and AVillis B. Machen and W. S. Groesbeck each received 
one electoral vote for Vice-President; T. E. Bramlette had 
three electoral votes for this office ; George W. Julian five ; 
John M. Palmer three, and A. H. Colquite five. The Re- 
publican ticket was elected by a large majority. 

The administrations of Grant were more distinguished for 
corruption and jobbery than any others in the history of our 
country. Whiskey rings, naval rings, and Credit Mobilicrs 
nourished with a criminal luxuriance hitherto unknown and 
made their unblushing boldness the byword of the world. 

1876. 

In this year a new party sprang into existence, the Green- 
back, or " fiat money " men. In convention at Indianapo- 
lis on the 17th day of May, 1876, they put in nomination for 
President and Vice-President Peter Cooper and Samuel F. 
Carey. 

The Democratic Convention was held in St. Louis, in the 
month of June, and Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hen- 
dricks were nominated. 

The Republicans met in convention at Cincinnati in June, 
and nominated Rutherford B. Hays and William A. 
Wheeler. 

Notwithstanding the resort by the Republicans to unusual 
infamies to carry the election, no man on either side to- 
day doubts that the Democrats elected their candidates. 
Again for the third time, the matter could not be settled in 
the Electoral College, and the famous or rather infamous 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 435 

** Electoral Commission" perpetrated upon the American 
people the miserable fraud of perjuring themselves, and seat- 
ing in the Presidential chair, a creature that his partisans 
of that day now pronounce an impostor and a pretender. 

The popular vote was: Hayes, 4,033,950; Tilden, 4,- 
284,885; Cooper, 81,740; Green C. Smith (Prohibiton), 
9,522. 

To show how easily the will of the people is defeated by 
the machinery of the Electoral College and our present sys- 
tem of elections we will here give what was said on that 
occasion to be the electoral vote : 

Hays' electoral vote - » - 185 

Tilden's *' ''-.-. 184 

Showing that with a popular majority of over 250,000 Tilden 
was beaten by one electoral vote. 

The nobility of Samuel J. Tilden in magnanimously re- 
fusing to embroil the country in a civil war that he might 
recover the place so justly his due can never be sufficiently 
admired. The Republican party, with its habitual disre- 
gard for the rights of the people and the requirements of 
honor and honesty, did not scruple to intimate that, if nec- 
essary, it would seat its candidate by force of arms, though 
thousands of noble and honest men in its ranks declared 
that if the worst came they would willingly shoulder their 
muskets and oppose so flagrant an injustice. Reai)ing the 
reward due to their dishonor, the party leaders lived to regret 
their action and to despise the paltry creature that had profited 
by their baseness. The stolen fruit, instead of the peculiar 
sweetness supposed to flavor goods obtained in this man- 
ner, proved truly Sodom's apples, 

"Dead sea fruits, that tempt the eye, 
But turn to ashes on the lips." 



436 LIFE AXD PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Dissensions sprang up ; Stalwarts opposed Half-breeds and 
were in turn opposed by them with a bitterness born of in- 
timate acquaintance. Hays, intent with miserly greed on ac- 
cumulating money, did not have the time, even had he 
possessed the brain and management, to reconcile these dis- 
cordant elements, and when he left the White House it is 
safe to say that those who had by treason and felony aided 
him to the Presidency breathed a sigh of ineffable relief. 

1880. 

In the Republican Convention which met at Chicago, 
on the 5th of June, 1880, a merciless battle of Stalwart 
against Half-breed was wa^ed. The Stalwarts were almost 
to a man for Grant for a third term, but were unable to 
carry their point, and after much trickery and many corrupt 
and shameless bargains the nomination of James A. Gar- 
field was effected. Chester Allan Arthur was given the 
second place on the ticket. 

The Democratic Convention met at Cincinnati, in June, 
and nominated General W. S. Hancock and William H. 
English. This, to most thinking men, has always seemed 
a mistake, since they owed to their defrauded chief the 
vindication of a re-nomination and election. Be this as it 
may, the Republican ticket was elected. 

James B. Weaver and B. J. Chambers were nominated by 
the Greenbackers. 

The popular and electoral votes for the different candi- 
dates will prove of interest, especially as they show the in- 
efficient workings of the electoral machinery which must 
be eventually changed, when its inadequacies are understood 
by the masses. 

Garfield's popular vote 4,442,950; electoral vote 214. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 437 

Hancock's popular vote 4,442,035; electoral vote 155. 
Difference in popular vote 915; in electoral vote 59, thus 
making 915 popular majority, equal to 59 electoral votes. 
Of the popular vote at this election the Greenbackers got 
306,867, and there were scattering 12,576. 

The dissensions continued in the Kepublican camp, and 
the action of the crazy player Booth found its parallel in 

that of the Stalwart Kepublican, Charles J. Guiteau, who 
fired upon Garfield on the 2nd of July, 1881, causing his 
death from the wound September 20, 1881. This was 
carrying party correction to an extreme, even for th^ Re- 
publican party, and Guiteau was tried, convicted and hung 
for his crime. Arthur's chief claim to distinction appears 
to be the fit of his clothes and the failure of the Star Eoute 
prosecutions, begun under Garfield and ended in a perfect 
farce under his successor. 



438 LIFE AND PUBLIC SEUVICES OF 



CHAPTER VI. 

POLITICAL MEASURES FEDERALISM. 



MEN AND MEASURES. THE FIRST POLITICAL DIFFERENCE. ANTAG- 
ONISTIC MEASURES. THE NATIONAL BANK. A QUESTION OF 

SUPREMACY. A DIFFERENCE OF OPIISION. HAMILTON AJsD 

JEFFERSON. ARISTOCRACY VERSUS DEMOCRACY. A NOBLE 

CHARACTER. OPPOSING LEADERS. THE ALIEN AND SEDITION 

LAWS. TYRANNICAL MEASURES. THEIR SCOPE. PENALTIES 

FOR THEIR NEGLECT. FINE AND IMPRISONMENT. OFFICIAL 

EGOTISM. THEIR DATE OF EXPIRATION. THE KENTUCKY AND 

VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS. STATES' RIGHTS DOCTRINE. MADISON 

AND JEFFERSON. THE FEDERAL LEAGUE DEFINED. ASSUMED 

P0"WT:RS. NO COMMON JUDGE. THE PROPER REMEDY. A 

FEDERALIST OPINION. THE EVIL AGGRAVATED. THE MEAS- 
URES FAILURES. A FRANK CONFESSION. 

Having given a condensed though clear idea of the party 
men, it may be well to mention, in brief, the measures upon 
which party lines were drawn. As already shown, the first 
truly distinctive difference was in regard to the powers the 
general government should possess. After this was ad- 
justed, by the adoption of the Constitution, the Federalists 
began to devise schemes of internal taxation, in addition to 
import duties, etc. These measures were obstinately op- 
posed by the Anti-Federalist partisans, who were jealous of 
any encroachments of the central government. This jeal- 
ousy w^as rendered the more active and vigilant by the evi- 
dent purpose of the Federalists to assert to the utmost the 
power of the government over the States. 

The National Bank was another point of dissension, Mr. 
Madison plainly showing it to be unconstitutional; the 
power to grant charters of incorporation having been pro- 
posed and defeated in the Constitutional Convention. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 439 

Numerous and weighty arguments were adduced against 
and also in favor of such an institution, and the Federal- 
ists being in power at the time succeeded in passing the 
bill. Before signing it, however, the President obtained the 
written opinion of the members of his Cabinet; the Secre- 
tary of State (Jefferson) and Attorney General (Randolph) 
declaring it unconstitutional; while the Secretary of the 
Treasury (Hamilton) and Secretary of War (Knox) gave a 
contrary opinion. 

The real leaders of the two parties were Hamilton and 
Jefferson; the former cold-blooded, selfish, a great stickler 
for official dignity and a man who did not scruple to declare 
that he believed it might be necessary for a strong, semi- 
monarchical form of government to be established in 
America. Jefferson, on the other hand, was a man of warm 
affections and always on the side of the people. Of su- 
perior mind and education, he looked down upon the cold 
selfish egotism of his more ignorant opponent with undis- 
guised contempt and loathing. Jefferson was the incarna- 
tion of Democracy ; Hamilton of a moneyed or official aris- 
tocracy . 

George Washington, then President, endeavored to as- 
suage the hostility existing between his Secretaries, but 
he misht as well have endeavored to mix oil and water. 
His efforts were made with the candor, nobility and grandeur 
of that magnanimous spirit that Americans have never 
thoroughly appreciated, and less so now than ever, in this 
day of trivialities and petty politicians, but his usual success 
did not attend his efforts, and the party warfare increased 
in bitterness. 

In their controversies Jefferson was ever open and honor- 
able, while Hamilton was full of insinuations and bitterness. 



440 Life and public services of 

It was this course that afterwards cost him his life, when 
he pressed his malice and his slanders too heavily upon that 
broken and dishonored man, Aaron Burr. 

The * * Alien and Sedition Laws' ' already alluded to were re- 
garded as strictly Federal party measures to oppress and weak- 
en the opposition, and they caused much bitter feeling. They 
conferred upon the President excessive and tyrannical pow- 
ers and were exceedingly unwise and unjust measures. They 
authorized the President to order out of the country all such 
aliens as he should judge dangerous to its institutions, or its 
peace and safety. If he had reasonable grounds to suspect 
them of any treasonable designs he might order them to 
leave in a given time, (or in other words, their stay depended 
entirely upon his pleasure.) 

If ordered to depart and afterward found at large without 
a license from the President to reside in the country, he was 
liable to imprisonment not exceeding three years, and was 
forever denied the privilege of becoming a citizen. Section 
2d of this act was even more tyrannical than the 1st, and 
provided for an imprisonment of the contumacious during 
the President's pleasure. Section 3d required commanders 
of vessels to report all aliens on board their ships, stating 
their names, country, to whom they owed allegiance, their 
occupation, <S:c. Penalty in each case of failure to so report 
$300. 

The Sedition law was still more infamous, and provided 
that any persons combining or conspiring together to op- 
pose any measure of the government of the United States, 
etc., might be punished by a line not exceeding $5,000, and 
by imprisonment not less than six months, nor more than 
five years. The 2d section of this law provided that any 
person who should write, print, utter, etc., any false, 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 441 

scandalous or malicious writing against the Governicnt, 
Congress or the President of the United States, Avith intent 
to defame them, or to bring them into disrepute, etc., should 
be fined not to exceed $2,000, and imprisoned not to exceed 
two years. 

These were regarded as gag laws and tending to suppress 
all freedom of speech and of the press, and to show what 
use was designed to be made of them they were to con- 
tinue in force no longer than the 3d day of March ^ 
1801, at which time Adams' (Federalist) administration 
would go out of power. It was not intended that the Re- 
publican (Democratic) administration, which they feared 
would succeed to power in 1801, (March 4,) should have 
any benefit of this Federalistic device. 

These odious measures gave rise to the Kentucky and 
Virginia Resolutions of 1798 and 1799. Mr. Madison, then 
in the Virginia Legislature, introduced (at the instance of 
Mr. Jefferson, so it is said, ) resolutions adopted December 
21, 1798. These resolutions declared in sub.stance that 
the general government had no powers save those expressly 
given to it by the States ; that in case of an undue or un- 
warrantable interference or dan2:erous exercise of Federal 
power, it was the right and duty of the States to resist it ; 
that the alien and sedition laws were dangerous infractions of 
the Constitution ; that the State of Virginia having expressly 
advocated and guaranteed freedom of speech and of the 
press, and that the United States had no authority to cancel 
or abridge this guarantee; that the State of Virginia de- 
clared the alien and sedition laws unconstitutional, and 
hoped and believed that the other States would join with 
her in maintaining unimpaired the rights and liberties of 
both the States and their people; that the Governor of the 



442 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

SUite be desired to transmit a copy of these resolutions to 
the executive authorities of each of the other States, and 
also a copy to each of Virginia's Representatives and Sena- 
tors in the National Congress. 

Jefferson, himself, prepared the resolutions to be offered 
in the Kentucky Legislature, and they were made even 
stronger than those offered in the Virginia Assembly. 
The Union, they declared, was a compact between the States 
as States, and not between the people of the several States 
as one nation. Between parties to a compact having no 
common judge, each party has a right to judge for itself of 
infractions, grievances and redress. The alien and sedition 
acts are " not law, but altogether void, and of no force." 
*' Where powers are assumed which have not been delegated, 
a nullification of the act is the right remedy, and every 
State has a natural right, in cases not w^ithin the compact, 
to nullify, of their oivn authority, all assumptions of power 
by others within their limits. John Quincy Adams himself 
says, in his written address in 1836, on the death of Madi- 
son: "The prosecutions under the Sedition Act did but 
aggravate the evil, which they were intended to repress." 
A very frank confession, indeed ! 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 443 



CHAPTER VII. 

POLITICAL MEASURES OF WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATIONS. 



MADISON S RESOLUTION. TONNAOE DUTIES AND IMPORTS. CRE- 
ATION OP THE DEPARTMENTS. A QUESTION OF AUTHORITY. 

THE OPPOSITION CARRY THE POINT. SUPREME COURT JUSTICES 

APPOINTED. THANKSGIVING DAY. DEBTS OF THE UNITED 

STATES. VALUE OF CONTINENTAL CURRENCY. FUNDING PRO- 
POSITIONS. DUTIES INCREASED. ASSUMPTION OF STATE DEBTS. 

A FAIR EXCHANGE. A JEALOUS PARTY. CREATION AND 

CREATORS. THE NATIONAL BANK BILL, ITS ORIGIN. xMEET- 

ING OF THE SECOND CONGRESS. REPRESENTATIVE APPORTION- 
MENT. A CABINET COUNCIL. NUMBER OF MEMBERS. ST. 

CLAIR'S DEFEAT. A WARM DEBATE. AN INCREASE OF DUTIES. 

PROTECTION APPEARS. FISHING BOUNTIES. OTHER MEAS- 
URES. A NEW NAME. AN UNFLAGGING CHAMPION. A BIT- 
TER ENEMY. POLITICAL ORGANS. HAMILTON'S CARD. A 

FLAT DENIAL. A NEWSPAPER WAR. THE WHISKY INSURREC- 
TION QUELLED. WASHINGTON'S SECOND TERM. FUGITIVE 

SLAVE BILL. THE FRENCH MINISTER. A PRESUMPTIOUS IN- 
DIVIDUAL. AN INTERESTING CHAPTER. HOSTILE COMPLICA- 
TIONS. A GRAND LEADER. 

Mr. Madison offered a resolution in May, 1789, that cer- 
tain duties ought to be levied on the tonnage of vessels and 
on goods, wares and merchandise imported into the United 
States, and a law was passed in which were enumerated a 
list of articles on which specific duties were imposed and 
others upon which the duty was to be ad valorem. The 
duties were to be ten per. cent less on all goods brought m 
in American vessels. The tonnage duty on American ves- 
sels was to be six cents; on foreign vessels, fifty cents a 
ton. 

At this session the Department of State — then called De- 
partment of Foreign Affairs — the Treasury Department, 
and War Department wero reorganized in accordance with 



444 LIFE AND rUBLiC SERVICES OF 

the new system of government. A discussion now arose 
between the Federal leaders and the opposition as to 
whether the President could remove these (Cabinet) officers 
without consent of the Senate. Hamilton, Sherman, Geary 
and others thouglit that the concurrence of the Senate should 
be necessary, but Madison, Baldwin and others opposed this 
view and carried their point, the vote being 34 to 20 in theii^ 
favor. V 

At this session the Judiciary Department was established. 
John Rutledge, South Carolina; James Wilson, Pennsyl- 
vania; William Cushing, Massachusetts ; Robert Harrison, 
Maryland, and John Blair, Virginia, were appointed Asso- 
ciate Justices and John Jay, New York, Chief Justice. The 
first constitutional amendments — twelve in number — were 
proposed at this session, and ten of them were adopted by the 
States. Before the adjournment — 29th, September — the 
President was requested by Congress to appoint a day of 
public thanksgiving and prayer for ^he many and signal 
favors of Providence. 

At this time the foreign debt was $11,710,378; the 
domestic debt was $42,414,085. Continental money was 
worth from one-eighth to one-sixth its face. It was also pro- 
posed that the government adopt the various State debts, 
which amounted to $25,000,000. Many propositions were 
made for funding and paying these debts. An increase of 
import duties on wines, spirits, tea and coffee and an excise 
tax on distilled domestic spirits. Says Judge Marshall, the 
discussion of these measures caused the first systematic op- 
position to the principles on which the affairs of the Union 
were administered. 

The assumption of the State debts was carried by a trade 
between Northern and Southern members, the former agree- 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 445 

ing to fix the seat of government on the Potomac, if the 
hitter woukl vote for the assumption. Tlie opposition of 
the Anti-Federalists to tiie financial measures of the govern- 
ment arose from their jealousy of internal taxation for gen- 
eral government purposes, they looking upon it as an as- 
sumption of power by the creation to regulate the affairs of 
its creators. The bill for increase of duties and taxing^ 
domestic liquors passed at the next session of this Congress, 
(begun December 6, 1790). The vote was 35 to 21. 

The National Bank Bill came up at this session, and after 
a stormy debate was passed by a vote of 39 to 20. Nearly 
all of the Southern members opposed its passage. The 
capital stock of the bank waste be $10,000,000; $2,000- 
000, of which were to be subscribed by the government; 
the rest by individuals. The shares were 25,000 in num- 
ber; their par value $400 each, and no individual, firm, 
partnership, or corporation was allowed to hold more than 
1000 shares. No loan exceeding $50,000 could be made to 
any State; to the United States no loan exceeding $100,- 
000, could be made. The charter should expire in twenty 
years. 

On the 26th of October, 1791, the second Congress met. 
In the House the administration majority was considerably 
reduced by the election which had taken place. A disa- 
greement on apportionment having occurred, the President 
consulted the members of his Cabinet, this time accepting 
the opinions of Jefferson and Randolph. At this session the 
apportionment was fixed at 33,000, (fractions above this num- 
ber to count as nothing), for Representatives. This made 
the number of members in the House 105. 

The President communicated to Cons^ress the news of 
St. Clair's defeat, and a bill for a vigorous prosecution of the 



446 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

war against the Northwestern Indians was introduced. 
This provoked a warm debate, and the Secretary of the 
Treasury being called on to report feasible methods of rais- 
ing the means for meeting the war expenses, recommended 
an increase of duties. The duty on domestic spirits was 
somewhat reduced, owing to its unpopularity, but that on 
imported liquors was increased. By a new tariff act, a dis- 
crimination in favor of some articles was made to encourage 
their home manufacture. 

Bounty laws for the encouragement of fishing, making 
bounties payable to fishermen and owners of fishing vessels, 
bills for the establishment of a uniform militia system; 
authorizino^ the President to call out the militia in case of 
insurrection or invasion ; for establishing a mint and regu- 
lating coinage; for reorganizing the postal department; for 
reo^ulatino; Presidential elections, and fixino; succession in 
cases of vacancies in office of President and Vice-President, 
were passed at this session. 

The Jeffersonian party now took the name of Republi- 
cans, and the antagonism between them and the Federalists 
increased. Jefferson's zeal in behalf of popular rights 
never flagged. No attempt at encroachment upon them, 
however well veiled, ever escaped his eagle eye. His ablest 
opponent, Hamilton, left no means untried to foist his pecu- 
liar beliefs upon the people, but notwithstanding his genius 
and his power, he continually lost ground in the contest with 
Jefferson. Then as now, each party had its official organs. 
Fenno's *' United States Gazette," published at Philadel- 
phia, was Hamilton's organ; the *' National Gazette," 
edited by Freneau, was the organ of the opposition. 

Through these mediums the leaders of the two parties 
assailed the conduct of government and opposition in a 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. - 447 

series of essays, that for deep reasoning, clear presentation 
of facts and ideas, and intense bitterness, have seldom, if 
ever, been equalled in political writings. Stung beyond 
endurance by these phillipics, Hamilton wrote a severe arti- 
cle, signing it *'An American," in which he accused the 
Secretary of State, (Mr. Jefferson,) with holding office 
under the administration, and at the same time establishinir 
an organ to abuse and villify it. This, Freneau flatly de- 
nied in an able editorial, and quite a newspaper war pre- 
vailed for a time, Hamilton eventually being silenced. Not- 
withstanding Washington's earnest endeavors to heal the 
breach between Jefferson and Hamilton, he never succeeded 
in effecting it. 

The opposition to the tax on domestic liquors having 
become exceedingly violent, a force of 15,000 men was 
raised to quell this riotous and insurrectionary spirit, after 
other measures had long been tried in vain. This was 
effected in the summer of 1794, but little blood having been 
shed in effecting its suppression, Washington's second 
election occurred in 1792. He had thought of retirino; to 
Mount Vernon, but owing to the unsettled condition of the 
country. Federalists and Republicans, alike, joined in insist- 
ing that he should again take the helm of the ship of state. 
In 1793, Jefferson retired from the Cabinet to organize the 
forces of the Republicans for the next campaign, it being 
plain to every one that no amount of persuasion would in- 
duce Washington to accept a third term. 

Durinoj Washinojton's second term of office, fu2fitive 
slave and criminal requisition acts were passed, though the 
former were evaded by the officials of many of the free 
States. A decision by the Supreme Court also decided that 
a State might be sued by a citizen of another State. The 



448 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

establishment of a Republic in France and the war between 
that country and Great Britain, very greatly complicated 
our foreign relations, though a proclamation of neutrality 
was promptly issued. A minister, (Edmond C. Genet,) 
was received from the French Republic, whose acts were 
exceedingly incautious and imprudent. Presuming upon 
the aid that his country had extended to the rebellious colo- 
nies, he consulted neither the dictates of decency, prudence 
nor international law, and caused Great Britain to assume 
quite a belligerent attitude towards the United States. 

It is an interesting chapter of American history and 
American politics, but it is one, which, if properly consid- 
ered, would require vastly more space than we could here 
give it, hence we have but briefly alluded to it. This com- 
plication happened in au unfortunate hour for the young 
Republic, as we were looking for war with the Creek and 
Cherokee Indians, probably with Spain, were denied the 
navigation of the Mississippi river, our seamen were being 
impressed by British men-of-war, and captured and enslaved 
by Algerine pirates. Thus opened the second term of 
Washington's administration, and well for the people was it 
that so brave a heart and cool a head presided over their 
destinies. 



CLEVELAND AND liENDIlICKS. 449 



CHAPTER VIII. 

POLITICAL MEASURES DEMOCRACY, 



THE CONGRESS OP 1793. AN OPPOSITION MAJORITY. A STRICT 

NEUTRALITY ADVISED. THE PROPER INDIAN POLICY. FOR- 

i:iGN RESTRICTIONS. JEFFERSON'S RESIGNATION. THE RE- 
TALIATING DUTIES DEBATE. ABLE POLITICAL PAPERS. THE 

ALGERINE PIRATES. A STRONG NAVY RECOMMENDED. A 

CHEAPER PLAN. A RIDICULOUS IDEA. AMERICAN VESSELS 

SEIZED. LORD DORCHESTER'S SPEECH. BRITISH ORDERS MODI- 
FIED. INDIAN HOSTILITIES. JAY'S MISSION. A SINKING 

FUND ESTABLISHED. THE ENGLISH TREATY. JAY BURNED IN 

EFFIGY. TREATY RATIFIED. AN OPEN RUPTURE. WASH- 
INGTON'S FIRMNESS. FRENCH COMPLICATIONS. AN UNJUST 

POSITION. SAFETY TO NEUTRALS. BROKEN PROMISES. 

MONROE RECALLED. WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 

FALSE IDEAS. A SLIGHT RESEMBLANCE. A BITTER CONTEST. 

ADAMS ELECTED. WASHINGTON RETIRES. AT MOUNT VER- 
NON. HIS SUCCESS AS A STATESMAN. LEE'S EULOGY. 

When Congress assembled in 1793 it was found that the 
opposition had a decided majority in the House, and its can- 
didate for Speaker, Frederick A. Muhlenburg, Pennsylva- 
nia, was. elected over Theodore Ludwick, Massachusetts, the 
Federal candidate. In his messao^e to Conm-ess, Washinofton 
urged the enforcement of a strict neutrality and the placing 
of the country in a complete condition of defense. He also 
advised a humane treatment of the Indians, and the gradual 
extinction of the public debt. Commercial matters and the 
restrictions placed by foreign nations on our trade and com- 
merce largely engaged the attention of the National Legisla- 
ture . 

On the 31st day of December, 1793, Jefferson resigned his 
position, Randolph being appointed in his place, William 
Bradford, Pennsylvania, succeeding to the post of Attorney 



450 LIFE AiVD PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

General. An able debate in regard to retaliatory duties 
upon British productions, took place between Mr. Madison 
and Mr. Smith of South Carolina; the former advocating 
such duties, the latter opposing them. Madison's speeches 
upon this subject are masterpieces of argument in regard 
to political economy, and should be read by all who contem- 
plate a political career. 

It was proposed in the House that a naval armament suf- 
ficient to protect American commerce against the Algerine 
pirates should be provided. The building of six frigates, 
four of fifty-four guns and two of thirty-six, was recom- 
mended. This was opposed by some who considered it 
cheaper, if not more honorable, to purchase a peace with 
these pirates, while others made the ridiculous proposal 
that the navy of some foreign nation be paid to protect 
our commerce. The original bill, after considerable dis- 
cussion, was finally passed. 

Under the British orders of the 8th of June, 1793, and 
the 6th of November, of the same year, American mer- 
chantmen engaged in the French West India trade, were 
seized and carried into British ports, and some of them 
there condemned. On the 10th of February, 1794, the war 
prospect was aggravated by a speech of Lord Dorchester 
to the Western Indians, in which he alluded to the proba- 
bility of a war. Retaliatory measures were begun, when 
Mr. Pinckney, American Minister at London, notified the 
President, that by an order issued January 8, 1794, the 
preceding orders had been greatly modified. 

For a short time only did this information quiet the feel- 
ings of the people who had been outraged by the arbitary 
measures of England. The Indian hostilities, presumably ex- 
cited by l)i-iiisli partisans, had been checked by the over- 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 451 

throw of the banded Northwestern tribes by General Wayne, 
and the English government hastened to disown any connec- 
tion with them. Mr. Jay was now sent upon a diplomatic 
mission to Enojland to see if some arrano^ement between the 
two nations could not be consummated. 

A plan to establish a sinking fund of proceeds of sales of 
public lands, surplus revenues, bank dividends &c., was 
agreed upon, and by it the pul)lic debt was finally extin- 
guished. On the 7th of March, 1795, *'a treaty of amity, 
commerce and navigation," which had been concluded by 
Mr. Jay and the English Minister, was forwarded to the 
President. This treaty was, on the whole, more satisfactory 
than had been expected. Indemnity for illegal capture of 
American property, surrender of the Western military posts 
on June 1, 1796, by the British and compensation for 
losses occasioned British subjects by State Laws obstruct- 
ing the collection of theirdebts, were the principal features 
of the treaty. Its restrictions upon American commerce 
and shipping interests provoked a storm of fury, and Mr. 
Jay was burned in efEgy in Boston and Philadelphia. The 
treaty, with slight modification, was eventually ratified. 

The first outright conflict of the President and the House 
of Representatives was brought about by this treaty, or 
rather grew out of it. Edmund Livingstone, of New York, 
moved a resolution that the President be requested to lay 
before the House a copy of his instructions to Mr. Jay, and 
the correspondence and other documents called forth by 
the treaty. The debate upon this resolution occupied many 
days, and was finally carried by a vote of 62 to 37. Believ- 
ing it his duty to refuse this call upon him since, the House 
had no authority in the making of treaties, the President 
returned his answer declining to comply with the request. 



452 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

This answer provoked a heated discussion in the House; 
many of tlie speeches exhibiting an eloquence almost un- 
equalled. The adoption of the treaty carried by the decid- 
ing vote of the chairman. The French directory, upon 
news of the ratification of the treaty, recalled their Minister, 
declaring that by its adoption the treaty with France had been 
annulled, and announcing that retaliatory measures would 
betaken. By the treaty, British goods in American vessels 
were secure, while French goods in American vessels were 
not, but against this the French had no right to complain, 
since by their Convention decree of May, 1793, they had 
captured and condemned some fifty American vessels for 
carrying British goods. 

France succeeded in August, 1796, in effecting an alliance 
with Spain, the two joining to insure '^safety to the neutral 
flag." Pretending to have been unfairly treated by America, 
in her treaty with England, Spain refused to give up her 
ports on the Mississippi river, as she had agreed, or to run 
out the southern boundary. An effort was also made by 
Spain to detach the people of the West from the Union and 
to form a separate Spanish empire with full control of the 
Mississippi. The President, not fully satisfied with the 
action of Mr. Monroe, then jNlinister to France, recalled 
him and appointed Charles CotesworthPinckney, South 
Carolina, to succeed him, on the 9th of September, 1796. 

Notwithstanding the stormy nature of affairs, Washington 
determined not to accept another term of the Presidency, 
and announced this determination in a farewell address, 
dated September 16, 1796. Some have attributed to Ham- 
ilton the authorship of this address, but Mr. Jay, who was 
in a position to know, clearly disposes of this fiction, in a 
letter which appeared in **Nile's Register'* October 21, 1826. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 453 

Soon after the death of Madison the authorship was at- 
tributed to hiin by several anonymous newspaper scribblers. 

The only foundation for these reports was the fact that 
in a letter to Mr. Madison, dated May 20, 1792, AYashing- 
ton, wishing to decline a second term, asked Madison to 
prepare a valedictory address, and gave him the points 
he wished embraced in it. The draft prepared by Mr. 
Madison was able and eloquent, and was probably consulted 
by General Washington in the preparation of his address. 
The resemblance between the two was very slight, Wash- 
ington's being four times as long as the one prepared by 
Mr. Madison. 

Washington positively declined another re-election; and 
the Federalists now concentrated upon John Adams as their 
candidate for the Presidency. Of course the Republicans 
selected Thomas Jefferson, their ablest leader, and the con- 
test was a bitter one. On the 8th day of February the 
electoral votes were counted and found to be Adams 71 
Jefferson 69; Thomas Pinckney, for Vice-President 59 
Aaron Burr 30; Samuel Adams 15 ; Oliver Elsworth 11 
scattering 22, (names given elsewhere). The old rule ob- 
taining, Adams was declared President and Jefferson Vice- 
President. On the 3d day of March, 1797, Washington's 
term of office expired and that hero, sage, patriot, statesman 
and soldier retired like another Cincinnatus to the peaceful 
seclusion of his farm. 

Gracing with his presence the inauguration of his suc- 
cessor March 4, 1797, he departed the next day for his es- 
tate of Mount Vernon. During his two administrations 
measures looking to the restoration of the public credit, to 
the formation of the various departments, to the preservation 
of peace both foreign and domestic, to the formation of 



454 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

treaties with all nations but France, and many other 
important measures -had been conceived and executed and 
he had indeed proved that he well deserved that noble en- 
comium of Lee, ''First in war, first in peace and first in 
the hearts of his countrymen." 

In all the pages of history, search as we may, no grander 
character appears than that of this Cincinnatus of the 
Western world, to whom Byron pays immortal tribute, in 
connection with the undying fame of Epaminondas : 

''Great men have always scorn'd great recompenses. 
Epaminondas saved his Thebes and died, 
Not leaving even funeral expenses; 
George Washington had thanks and nought beside, 
Except the all cloudless glory (which few men's is) 
To free his country — " 

Noble, serene and simple, his character challenges an- 
cient and modern history, song and fable, to produce its 
counterpart. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 455 



CHAPTER rX. 

POLITICAL MEASURES — FOREIGN DIFFICULTIES. 



THE NAVY DEPARTMENT CREATED. THE FIRST SECRETARY. A 

SPECIAL SESSION. PRIVATEERING SCHEMES. A MILITIA OR- 
GANIZED. THREE FRIGATES COMMISSIONED. THE STAMP ACT. 

AN ODIOUS MEASURE. EMBASSADORS TO FRANCE. MONEY 

DEMANDED. INJUDICIOUS LEGISLATION. POLITICAL NEWS- 
PAPERS. THE AURORA AND OTHERS.. THE FRIES REBELLION. 

THE SIXTH CONGRESS. DEATH OP WASHINGTON. FED- 
ERALIST DISSENSIONS. TROUBLE IN ADAMS' CABIJSTET. THE 

BRITISH FACTION. HAMILTON'S INTRIGUES. THE RE-ORGANI- 
ZATION ACT. PARTISAN APPOINTMENTS. A TIE VOTE. 

THE ELECTION IN THE HOUSE. JEFFERSON ELECTED PRESIDENT. 

FEDERAL INTRIGUES. A SECOND CATALINE. A COLD- 
BLOODED CONSPIRATOR. THE TWELFTH AMENDMENT. JEF- 
FERSON'S INAUGURATION. A MODEL ADDRESS. DEMOCRACY'S 

FIRST TllIUMPH. A FALSE ACCUSATION. ADAMS' ABUSE OF 

POWER. THE MIDNIGHT APPOINTMENTS. THE RIGHTS OP 

THE MAJORITY. A FAMOUS PHRASE. AN HONEST DEFENCE. 

ABUSES RECTIFIED. PROMISES WELL KEPT. 

In the second year of Adams' administration, the Navy 
Department was created, the position of Secretary, first of- 
fered to and declined by George Cabot, Massachusetts, 
being given to Benjamin Stoddart, Maryland. Fearing war 
with France on account of her seizure of American vessels 
carrying British goods — a direct violation of her treaty with 
the United States — Adams called a session of Congress May 
15, 1797. • Acts were passed to prevent Americans en- 
gaging in privateering schemes against vessels of nations 
with whom we were at peace. The militia, to the number of 
80,000 men, was to be organized and in readiness to march 
at any time. 

The President was authorized to cause three frigates to 
be put into commission, should he deem it expedient. 



456 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Duties were levied on ^'stamped vellum, parchment and pa- 
per." A certificate of naturalization was taxed $5; a law- 
yer's licence $10; all papers bearing seal of the United 
States $4, &c. These stamp duties were peculiarly obnox- 
ious to the Americans, as may be readily conceived. En- 
voys were appointed to France to endeavor to bring about 
amicable relations. To these envoys the French ministers 
did not disguise the fact that money would be necessary to 
bui/ advantageous terms. The negotiations amounted to 
nothing, and great preparations were made for war. 

So judiciously had the administration party acted from 
the time of Adams' inauguration that it had secured a good 
working majority in both Houses, and was steadily gaining 
a popularity with the people when some of its partisans origi- 
nated and passed the notorious Alien and Sedition Laws, 
whose tenor and effect has been already described. The 
opportunity thus afforded to the Eepublicans was eagerly 
seized by Jefferson, Madison and others, and a complete re- 
vulsion of popular opinion was produced. The Federal 
party had too soon unmasked its unwarrantable and tyran- 
nical interference with the freedom of speech and action. 

In his speech to Congress, (December 3, 1798,) Mr. 
Adams had declared that it would be a national humiliation 
to appoint another Minister to France unless the latter 
should take the initiatory steps by inviting one. Induced 
probably by the war measures of this and the preceding 
Congress, France indicated a desire to treat on more rea- 
sonable grounds than she had before offered, and Mr. Adams, 
notwithstanding his public declaration, appointed three en- 
voys to the French Republic. 

This precipitate eao-ernessto treat surprised and disgusted 
not only the opposition »^utl also many of the President's 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 45 7 

warmest supporters. He did not even consult his Cabinet 
or friends in this movement, and the breach between him 
and these parties was never entirely healed. The mission 
ended in securing a favorable treaty with France, and soon 
after Congress met at Washington on the 17th day of 
November, 1800. Mr. Davie returned to America with the 
new treaty, which was laid before the Senate December 15th, 
of this year. The treaty, with two amendments, was finally 
ratified by France and the United States. 

A chapter on newspapers, their uses and abuses as politi- 
cal instruments, might here be given did our space permit; 
for the *'Aurora," *'The Examiner," the <' Prospect Before 
Us," the '* American Annual Register," "Porcupine's Ga- 
zette" and others of that time certainly vied with any of to- 
day in vituperative capacity. The Fries rebellion, in Penn- 
sylvania, a resistance to the tax on lands and houses, occurred 
and was suppressed in the early part of 1797. All of those 
taken and convicted were pardoned by the President. The 
Vlth Congress which met in December, 1799, showed an 
admmistration majority in the House of 44 to 38. Early 
durino; the session came the sad news that the sublime and 
incorruptible patriot and hero, George Washington, had died 
on the 14th day of December, 1799. Appropriate resolu- 
tions in both Houses attested the general grief of the 
nation. 

The internal dissensions of the Federalists greatly 
alarmed that part}^ Mr. Pickering and Mr. McHenry, 
Secretaries of State and War, were requested by Mr. Adams 
to resign. The latter promptly did so, but the former waited 
until he was dismissed. John Marshall, Virginia, and 
Samuel Dexter, Massachusetts, were given their places. 
The Federal opposition was called by Mr. Adams the British 



458 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

faction. Hamilton, ever ready for intrigue and bitterness, 
came out in a pamphlet showing the superior qualities of C. 
C'. Pincknej over those of Mr. Adams, and advocated his 
election to the Presidency. 

The re-organization act by which the thirteen judicial 
districts were increased to twenty-three, was approved Feb- 
ruary 13th, 1801. By this act a large number of judges, 
marshals, attorneys and other court officers were created, 
and Adams hastened to appoint to these places administra- 
tion Federalists. This was looked upon as a measure de- 
signed to aid in his re-election to office, and has always been 
condemned by fair-minded men. 

In the next election Jefferson and Burr each received 73 
votes, making, under the system then in vogue, a tie ; Adams 
received 65 and Pinckney 64. John Jay received one vote. 
The election, by the tie, was thrown into the House of 
Representatives, and it was only on the 36th ballot that the 
will of the people was finally declared and Jefferson pro- 
nounced President. The obstruction to the popular voice 
was produced by the Federalists, some of whom thought 
Burr a less dangereous opponent than Jefferson. 

Thouorh a bitter measure to Hamilton, he felt constrained 
to recommend the election of Jefferson in preference to 
that of Burr, and, after showing him superior in every- 
thing, especially in character, honor and honesty, he says 
of the latter, *' Every step of his career proves that he has 
formed himself on the model of Cataline; and he is too 
cold-blooded and determined a conspirator ever to change 
his plan." His recommendation of Jefferson was not that 
he hated him the less, but Burr the more. The difficulties 
and apparent dangers attending this election led to its 
change by the adoption of the 12th Amendment to the Con- 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 459 

stitution. Jefferson, in a letter to Monroe, says that he 
was approached five times during the balloting, but de- 
clared to the Federalists that he would make no bargain for 
the Presidency. 

On the 4th of March, 1801, Jefferson was inaugurated 
and his address on that occasion is a model of manly fair- 
ness, generosity, good sense and irreproachable patriotism. 
In it there was nothing of malice, bitterness or injustice, 
and his subsequent course fully justified the beliefs and con- 
fidence which his address inspired. It was the first Demo- 
cratic Presidential oration, and was full of candor and 
wisdom. The Secretaries of the Treasury and the Navy, 
(Samuel Dexter and Benjamin Stoddart) appointees of Mr. 
Adams, were retained in Jefferson's Cabinet until January, 
1802, when Albert Gallatin and Kobert Smith replaced 
them. 

An accusation was speedily brought forward by the Fed- 
eralists that Jefferson had unduly used his power to eject 
members of their party fromoflSce, in order to replace them 
with Republicans, but this was a false and slanderous as- 
sertion, based on his rectification of Adams' abuse of the 
appointing power just as he was leaving the Presidential 
Chair. These ejectments he justified, in an answer to the 
address of some New Haven merchants, in a manner that 
conclusively stopped the clamor of the opposition. He 
showed that, at the time when by their votes the people had 
expressed their disregard of Federalist doctrines, the offices 
were filled with the officials of that party, and that certainly 
the majority had a right to some of their offices. 

In this answer occurs that famous sentence in regard to 
office-holders that has been so often and so incorrectly 
quoted. Speaking of vacancies in office, he says: ^^ Those 



460 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

hy death are few^ by resignation none! Can any other 
mode than of removal be proposed? This is a painful 
office, but it is made my duty and I meet it as such. I pro- 
ceed in the operation with deliberation and inquiry, that it 
may injure the best men least and effect the purposes of 
justice and public utility with the least private distress ; 
that it may be thrown as much as possible on delinquency, 
on opposition, on intolerance, on anti-revolutionary ad- 
herence to our enemies." * * **It would have 
been to me a circumstance of great relief had I found a 
moderate participation of office in the hands of the majority 
(Republicans). I would gladly have left to time and acci- 
dent to raise them to their just share. But their total ex- 
clusion calls for prompter corrections. I shall correct the 
procedure; but that done, return with joy to that state of 
things when the only questions concerning a candidate shall 
be, ' Is he honest? Is he capable? Is he faithful to the 
Constitution? ' " Certainly this was a fair and honest de- 
fense of his actions. 

He says that ''Mr. Adams' last appointments, when he 
knew he was naming aids and counsellors for me, and not 
for himself, I set aside as far as depends upon me. Officers 
who have been guilty of gross abuses of office, such as mar- 
shals packing juries, etc., I shall now remove, as my 
predecessors ought in justice to have done. * * * The 
right of opinion shall suffer no invasion from me. Those 
who have acted well have nothing to fear, however they 
may have differed from me in opinion." This was the 
tenor of his expressions to all, and proved the basis of his 
future actions. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 461 



CHAPTER X. 

POLITICAL MEASURES TRIUMPH OF THE DEMOCRACY. 



THE SEVENTH CONGRESS. THE ADMINISTRATION MAJORITY. THE 

WRITTEN MESSAGE. NATURALIZATION LAWS AMENDED. A 

SINKING FUND PERFECTED. THE FIRST SLAVE TRADE ACTS. 

SPAIN'S SECRET TREATY. LOUISIANA CEDED TO FRANCE. 

ABLE DIPLOMACY. THE FEDERALISTS CHECKMATED, THE 

ACQUISITION OF LOUISIANA. DISGUSTED FEDERALISTS. THE 

EASTERN EMPIRE. NAPOLEON'S PREDICTION. INCREASE OF 

ADMINISTRATION MAJORITY. JEFFERSON RE-ELECTED. THE 

FRENCH SPOLIATION BILL. THE EMBARGO ACT. A CHANGE 

OP NAME. A PARTY FACTION. THE BREACH CEMENTED. 

A STORMY CLOSE. BRITISH TREATY REJECTED. RIGHT OF 

SEARCH DENIED. THE CHESAPEAKE FIRED ON. A BRILLIANT 

AND SUCCESSFUL ADMINISTRATION. MADISON ELECTED PRESI- 
DENT. A SKILFUL GAME. NON- INTERCOURSE DECLARED. 

AMERICAN MINISTER TO ENGLAND RECALLED. WAR WITH 

ENGLAND DECLARED. DEFEAT OP THE NATIONAL BANK. A 

GRAND ORATOR. THE ERA OF STATESMEN. THE CLINTONIAN 

DEMOCRACY. MADISON RE-ELECTED. THE WAR OF 1812. 

EASTERN OPPOSITION. INFAMOUS TRAITORS. CONNECTICUT 

BLUE LIGHTS. THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. TREATY OF 

GHENT. POSTAGE REDUCED. MONROE ELECTED PRESIDENT. 

STATES ADMITTED. THE MONROE DOCTRINE. A UNANI- 
MOUS CHOICE. 

In the Vllth Congress the administration (Republican) 
party had a majority. It was Jefferson who established, at 
this session, the sending of a written message to Congress, 
instead of delivering it orally. This was a very useful inno- 
vation, and has ever since been continued. The naturaliza- 
tion laws were changed, making only five years residence 
necessary, instead of fourteen, as was at first the require- 
ment. Jefferson's recommendation of the settins: aside 
annually of $7,300,000, was the organization of the first 
sinking fund for the payment of the public debt. The first 



462 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

slave trade law was passed at this session. This was not the 
first Cono^ressional asjitation in res^ard to the slave trade ; tlie 
presentation of a petition from Pennsylvania in 1793, to 
abolish it, being the first measure. 

In 1802 the United States learned that Spain had, in 1800, 
secretly ceded her territory of Louisiana to France. This 
was discovered by the rescinding, in October, 1802, of 
Spain's right of American use of New Orleans, as a port of 
deposit. Jefferson wisely determined to play the friend- 
ship and neutrality of the United States against this secret 
proceeding, and instructed Livingston, our Minister to 
France, to nesjotiate for Louisiana and the Floridas. It was 
a mistaken supposition that Spain had also granted the latter 
to France 

The Federalists introduced resolutions asking for full in- 
formation in regard to these proceedings, ])ut Jefferson suc- 
ceeded in checkmating them, and pushed through his nego- 
tiations, sending Monroe to Livingston's aid. In April, 
1803, the treaty was effected, and laid before the Senate in 
October. The Federalists set up a howl of dismay at the 
acquisition of Louisiana, fearing that it would give the South 
and West too great a balance in the government. They 
even talked of establishing an Eastern Empire if States west 
of the Mississippi were admitted. 

$12,000,000 was the price paid for this splendid acquisi- 
tion, a paltry sum, indeed, compared with the importance of 
the purchase. Napoleon's words were oracular when he said 
of the purchase, that "It strengthens forever the power of 
the United States, and will give to England a maritime rival 
that will sooner or later humble her pride." So popular 
with the people was this stroke of Jefferson's, that there 
was a great increase in the administration majorities. 24 to 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 463 

7 was the Senate vote in favor of ratification, and 90 to 25 
that of the House in its favor. 

The French Spoliation Bill grew out of the reservation by 
the United States of $4,000,000 of the treaty money for 
French assaults upon and damages to American commerce. 
In 1804 Jefferson and Clinton were the candidates put for- 
ward by the Republicans; C. C. Pinckney and Rufus King, 
by the Federalists. The Republican majority was an im- 
mense one. The Embargo Act, passed in view of the acts 
of England and France, which were about to destroy Amer- 
ican commerce, proved ineffectual, and were repealed in 
March, 1809. 

The change of party name from Republican to Democrat, 
occurred in 1805, as has already })een stated. At the outset 
it had been the intention of the leaders of the party to call 
it the Democratic-Republican, as the Federalists contem- 
plated using the name Federal-Republicans. A faction in 
the Democratic party, under the leadership of John Ran- 
dolph, endeavored to bring about the nomination of Monroe 
in opposition to that of Madison, advocated by Jefferson, 
but the latter partly healed the breach, and secured the 
nomination of his favorite. The result was a very large 
majority for the Democrats at the next election. 

The close of Jefferson's administration, ( 1808-1809), was 
somewhat stormy. He recommended and secured the pas- 
sage of an Act abolishing the slave trade on and after Jan- 
uary 1, 1809. On account of the arbitrary reservations of 
the treaty forwarded to him by Erskine, then British Pre- 
mier, he rejected it without submitting it to the Senate. 
This he justified, and his party supported him in the stand 
he had taken, but the Federalists made all of the capital 



464 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

possible out of it. The firm deniiil by Jefferson of the 
British right of search, led gradually to the war of 1812. 

The firing by the British Man-of-war *'Leopard," upon 
the United States frigate ''Chesapeake," in 1807, silenced 
the opposition to Jefferson's course, and on the 3d day of 
March, 1809, he retired from office after a brilliant and suc- 
cessful administration. It is almost universally conceded 
that Jefferson was the ideal American statesman, educated, 
democratic, daring, cool and wise. 

Madison was his successor, not only in office, but in every 
particular of policy. He did not desire to plunge the country 
into war, but did not intend to submit to the course of insult 
and injury inflicted by the acts of both France and England. 
To play one of these powers against the other, was his in- 
tention, and he proposed to renew the non-intercourse act, 
which was to expire in 1810, against that power, refusing to 
annul its odious orders. France agreed to the American 
proposals of amicable intercourse, and accordingly the non- 
intercourse was decreed against England. England steadily 
maintained her position, and in 1811 our Minister was re- 
called from that country, and in 1812 war was declared by the 
United States. In 1811, the re-chartering of the National 
Bank, a favorite Federalist measure, though popular with 
many Republicans, was defeated. In 1811, also, Henry 
Clay, then a Republican, but afterwards a Whig, was elected 
Speaker of the House. His oratory was probably the most 
wonderful that has ever electrified the National Legislature. 
Calhoun, also serving in the House at that time, was more 
logical and a better reasoner, and Webster was as grand a 
master of rhetorical flourishes, but neither of them equalled 
the fiery eloquence of Clay. 

In 1812 the Clintonian Democracy was organized in New 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 465 

York, but their nomination of DeWitt Clinton for President 
was followed by the re-nomination of Madison by the Con- 
gressional Caucus — then the mode of making nominations. 
All of the opposition elements now concentrated on Clinton, 
but Madison was re-elected by a large majority. The con- 
vention of the opposition, at which eleven States were rep- 
resented, was the origination of the national political con- 
ventions. 

Ill his message to Congress, Madison declared that the 
British persisted in their search of American vessels and 
that thousands of Americans had been impressed by them ; 
that all efforts at a peaceful settlement of these wrongs had 
failed, and that they were continually intriguing for the 
disintegration of the Union. A declaration of war was 
approved by Madison June 18, 1812. 

If Clay's estimate is correct, nine-tenths of the people 
favored war, but the New England States bitterly opposed 
it. A few Federalist representatives issued an address op- 
posing the war, denouncing it as unjust; some of the New 
England States opposed the Presidential call for the militia, 
and Massachusetts went beyond the others in sending peace 
petitions to Congress. Some of the residents of New Lon- 
don, Connecticut, made an infamous coalition with the 
enemy, giving information by means of blue light signals. 
The acme of these treasonable acts was the Hartford Con- 
vention, whose chief object, if Mr. Adams and others are to 
be believed, was the formation of an Eastern Confederacy 
and a separate peace with Great Britain. Every delegate to 
this Convention loos a Federalist. 

The treaty of Ghent, completed December 14, 1814, re- 
stored peace with honor to the United States, covering the 
Democrats with glory and their opponents with disgrace. 



466 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Postage rates and internal taxation were now greatly re- 
duced. Madison recommended a protective tariff and the 
establishment of a national bank, both of which measures 
they had formerly opposed. To prove their mulishness, the 
Federalists wheeled into opposition to these measures. 
The first internal improvement bill was advocated by Clay, 
but, after favorable consideration by Madison, was finally 
vetoed. 

In the next Cono;ressional nominatins: caucus, Monroe 
succeeded in securing 65 votes to Crawford's 54. An op- 
position similar to that against Madison, and directed os- 
tensibly against Virginia's domination in politics, was at 
once oro:anized. Aaron Burr was a violent member of this 
opposition, and denounced not only Monroe, but the caucus 
system in politics. Monroe carried his election with the 
greatest ease. His inaugural address was conciliatory and 
sensible, and party feeling became rapidly assuaged. His 
opponent for the Presidential nomination, Crawford, of 
Georgia, he made Secretary of the Treasury, and surround- 
ed himself with the ablest men of his party. 

Mississippi and Illinois were born into the Union during 
Monroe's administration. Alabama also, was authorized to 
organize as a State, and Arkansas was made a Territory. 
Measures looking to the establishment of further protective 
duties, of internal improvements, and the enunciation of 
what has been since known as the Monroe Doctrine, distin- 
guished this administration, which was so able, just and 
conciliatory that Monroe's re-nomination in 1820 was by 
spontaneous acclaim, and in the Electoral College there was 
but a single vote cast against him. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 467 



CHAPTER XI. 

POLITICAL IVIEASURES — ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION. 



THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. NEW PARTY LINES. ALMOST A FEDE- 
RAL VICTORY. PATRIOTIC PARTY ACTION. THE SECTIONAL 

LINE. FEDERALIST HOPES. WHAT WE OWE DEMOCRACY. 

DISRUPTION PREVENTED. DR. FLOYD'S RFSOLUTION. BY 

RIGHT OF DISCOVERY. ACQUISITION OF FLORIDA. CHANGE 

OF INDIAN POLICY. THE TARIFF AND INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 

DEBATE OF CLAY AND WEBSTER. INCREASED TARIFF BILL 

PASSED. ITS BRO^D SCOPE. THE CAMPAIGN OP 1S24. 



JACKSON DEFRAUDED. THE INFAMOUS COALITION. THE 

FACTS IN THE CASE. THE C0LU:MBIAN LETTER. TRADING 

PARTISANS. JACKSON'S INCORRUPTIBILITY. CLAY'S DENIAL. 

WHAT KREMER AVOWED. THE BALANCE OF PROOF. 

CLEVER SPECIAL PLEADING. JACKSON, BUCHANAN AND OTHERS. 

"OLD hickory's" firm BELIEF. CONSPIRATORS RETIRED 

TO PRIVATE LIFE. CLAY FORCED INTO THE NATIONAL REPUB- 
LICAN (WHIG) PARTY. THE NEW PARTY POLICY. CONGRESS- 
IONAL CAUCUSES ABOLISHED. THE NATIONAL CONVENTION 

PLAN. AN INCREASED OPPOSITION. 

In the Missouri Compromise Measures, which agitated the 
XVIIth Congress, (convened March 4, 1820), we see accident 
almost effecting for the Federal party what their leaders did 
not have judgment sufficient to perfect. The Anti-slavery 
restrictions which were sought to be made conditions of the 
admission of this State, were rapidly re-creating party lines 
by forcing a change of base from Democratic and Federal, 
to Shivery and Anti-slavery parties, when the Northern De- 
mocracy, seeing that this would either deprive them of all 
voice and power in public affairs, or else force them into the 
lines of their detested enemies, the Federalists, determined 
to side with their political brethren of the South, and admit 
the State on as favorable conditions as possible. 



468 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Had the issue been forced on geograpical lines, as the 
Federal party hoped, two Confederacies, separated by the 
slave limit, would have been formed. This was no doubt 
the earnest desire of the Federal leaders, particularly those 
of the Eastern States. Had the Northern Democracy ranged 
itself on the geographical line, this disruption would have 
undoubtedly occurred, but their timely action prevented this 
great calamity. To it we owe to-day a Union of the States, 
instead of two opposing nations upon American soil. 

In 1820-1821, Dr. Floyd, of Virginia, proposed in Con- 
gress the settlement of our Columbia River territory, the 
only territory of the United States acquired by discovery, 
and showed the benefits that must accrue from it. By 
treaties ratified at this time, the United States acquired 
Florida from Spain, and ceded Texas to Mexico. The Indian 
policy of the government was also changed. The constitu- 
tionality of internal improvement bills, and a revision of the 
tariff, occupied a large share of the attention of Congress 
in 1823-1824. Protection incidental to revenue had been 
acquiesced in by the strict constructionists, but industrial 
protection as a separate system, was bitterly opposed by 
them. On this question the political giants. Clay and Web- 
ster were pitted against each other. 

By making its scope sufficiently wide to embrace the hemp 
of Kentucky, the wool of New York and Ohio, the lead of 
Missouri and Illinois, and the iron of Pennsylvania, the bill 
advocating an increase, was narrowly passed. It was 
strongly opposed by most of the Southern States. The bill 
received the approval of Mr. Monroe. The tinkering, in 
1824, w^ith the electoral system, was but a step in the right 
direction; the proper move being the substitution of the 
popular majority, as the means of determining the election. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 469 

A return to the honest system of viva voce voting would also 
be productive of much good. 

In 1824 there were four candidates all running as Repub- 
licans, according to most classifications, but really on the 
following ticl^ets : Jackson and Crawford, both Democrats; 
John Quincy Adams, Federalist ; and Henry Clay, National 
Republican (Whig). Of the popular and electoral votes, 
Jackson had a majority, but as before shown, the will of the 
people and of the States was defeated, and the election 
given to Adams. As we have alluded to a coalition between 
Clay and Adams, we will give a brief showing of the facts 
in the case, first stating that the defeat of the people's desire, 
cost all of those participating the loss of their popularity, 
and even Henry Clay never regained his grand station in 
public estimation. 

A few weeks before the election of Mr. Adams, (in the 
House) a letter, ostensibly from a Pennsylvania Represen- 
tative, appeared in the Columbian Observer, (published in 
Philadelphia), saying: *'For some time past the friends of 
Clay have hinted that they, like the Swiss, would fight for 
those who would pay best. Overtures were said to have 
been made by the friends of Adams to the friends of Clay, 
offering him the appointment of Secretary of State for his 
aid to elect Adams. The friends of Clay gave this infor- 
mation to the friends of Jackson, and hinted that if the 
friends of Jackson would offer the same price, they would 
close with them. But none of the friends of Jackson would 
descend to such mean barter and sale. * * * Henry 
Clay has transferred his interest to Mr. John Q. Adams. 
* * * For this abandonment of duty to his constituents, 
should this unholy coalition prevail, Clay is to be appointed 
Secretary of State." 



470 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Clay denied this in a card, and thereupon George Kremer, 
of Pennsylvania, avowed himself the author of the letter, 
and able to prove its tiuth. Ciay now asked an investiga- 
tion by the House, but Kremer refused to appear, excusing 
himself by saying that if he appeared, it must either be as a 
witness or an accuse?'. In an address to his constituents, 
Mr. Kremer stated his grounds for his belief in the coalition. 
They were Claj's disregard of the instructions of the Legis- 
lature of Kentucky to vote for Jackson; that Clay was 
known to have been hostile to Adams ; that he had leagued 
Western members together, to remain uncommitted until 
they had determined on the candidate they would support ; 
that he (Kremer) had been approached by a Kentucky mem- 
ber, who desired to know what Jackson would do for Clay, 
if the latter and his friends aided in his election ; and finally, 
that Clay had accepted the Secretaryship of State. 

Clay's defence to this accusation is a clever piece of special 
pleading, but to an unbiased mind that is all that it seems 
to be. If General Jackson, George Kremer, James Bu- 
chanan, and others, are to be believed, there was just such 
a bargain and sale as had been claimed in the letter preced- 
ing the election, which was attributed to Kremer. A letter 
of Jackson on this subject, dated " Hermitage, June 5, 
1827," says that early in January, 1825, he was visited by 
a member of Congress of the highest respectability, (James 
Buchanan), who told him that a great intrigue w^as going on 
of which he should be informed. "He said he had been 
informed by the friends of Mr. Clay that the friends of Mr. 
Adams had made overtures to them, saying if Mr. Clay and 
his friends would unite in aid of the election of Mr. Adams, 
Mr. Clay should be Secretary of State. * * * The 
friends of Mr. Clay stated the West did not wish to sepa- 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 471 

rate from the West ; and if I would say, or permit any of 
my confidential friends to say, that in case I was elected 
President, Mr. Adams should not be continued Secretary of 
State, by a complete union of Mr. Clay and his friends, they 
would put an end to the Presidential contest in one hour. 
* * * To which in substance I replied, that in politics, 
as in everything else, my guide was principle ; and contrary 
to the expressed and unbiassed will of the people, or their 
constituted agents, I never would step into the Presidential 
chair; and requested him to say to Mr. Clay and his friends, 
(for I did suppose he had come from Mr. Clay, although he 
used the term of Mr . Clay 's friends ), that before I would reach 
the Presidential chair by such means of bargain and cor- 
ruption, I would see the earth open and swallow Mr. Clay 
and his friends, and nyself with them. * * * The sec- 
ond day after this communication and reply, it was an- 
nounced in the ne^ spapers that Mr. Clay had come out 
openly and avowedl in favor of Mr. Adams." The letters 
of Messrs. Markle} , Buchanan, Eaton, and others on this 
subject, would occ ipy too much space for insertion here. 
It is sufficient to say that Clay positively denied the bargain, 
while Buchanan and Eaton mildly asserted as their opinion 
that there was such a bargain. Mr. Markley, while attempt- 
ing to deny, rather confirms the opinion that the bargain 
was a fact. 

That the people considered the coalition a corrupt one, is 
proven by the fact that they retired to private life those 
who were supposed to have aided in bringing it about, and 
so great was the odium in which Clay was held by the Demo- 
crats for his share, or supposed share, in it, that he left the 
party, and attached himself to the National Republicans, or 
Whigs, as they were called later. This new party was 



472 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

formed by the Federals and discontented Democrats, and 
its principles were decidedly Federalistic, with a strong 
Anti-slavery leaning. 

A good result of the agitation of 1824, was the doing away 
with Congressional caucuses, and the adoption of the State 
delegate, or National plan of nominating. Adams entered 
upon his administration with a strong opposition against 
him in both Houses of Congress, the Senate having a, hostile 
majority, the House being nearly evenly divided ; and his 
policy rather increased than diminished this opposition. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDKICKS. 473 



CHAPTER Xn. 

POLITICAL MEASURES TARIFF AND NULLIFICATION. 



THE CONGRESS OP AMERICAN STATES. DEMOCRATIC DOCTRINE- 



ELECTORAL REVISION. THE TENURE-OF-OFFICE BILL. A PRO- 
POSED AMENDMENT. A SECTIONAL MEASURE. A CHANGE OF 

POLICY. A NATURAL OBJECTION. ELECTION OF JACKSON. A 

WRONG RIGHTED. DEBATE BETWEEN HAYNE AND WEBSTER. 

THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. A MONGREL INSTITUTION. FOR 

AND AGAINST RE-CHARTERING THE NATIONAL BANK. JACKSON'S 

VETO. REMOVES THE GOVERNMENT FUNDS FROM THE BANK. 

A SCHEMING CORPORATION. P:MBARRASSMENT AND DISTRESS. 

RESOLUTIONS OF CENSURE. ARROGANT OFFICERS. PALTRY 

PARTISANS. JACKSON THWARTED. THE PUBLIC ESTRANGPID. 

THE FIRST WHITEWASHING COMMITTEE. A FINANCIAL WRECK. 

A FAMILY QUARREL. SOUTH CAROLINA'S NULLIFICATION 

ORDINANCE. JACKSON'S PROCLAMATION. CLAY'S COMPROMISE 

BILL. THE COURSE OF DANIEL WEBSTER. BENTON'S HARD 

MONEY SPEECH. DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATION. FRENCH DAMA- 
GES PAID. QUAKER PETITION. ABOLITION MEMORIALS. 

INCENDIARY DOCUMENTS. FANATICS IN CONTROL. A LARGE 

REWARD. MONROE EDVV^ARDS, THE NOTED FORGER. JOHN A. 

MURRELL AS AN ABOLITIONIST. CONSERVATIVE CONDUCT. 

THE AGITATION ALLAYED. 

The extreme application of the Monroe doctrine was the 
subject of a series of interesting debates in both House 
and Senate, in 1826, the subject being called up by the pro- 
posed Congress of American States. The Democratic party, 
as usual, placed itself in the attitude showing the soundest 
common sense, and the one becoming the American people's 
champion, by declaring against the measure and the en- 
tanglement of the United States in any unnecessary or 
sentimental alliances. 

An attempt was made (in 1825-1826) to secure a better 
electoral plan, but it proved a failure, not having secured 
the necessary two-thirds majority, and was for the time 



474 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

dropped. At the same session an attempt was made by 
the Democrats to pass a Tenure-of-office Bill, which was 
an excellent measure, and also to add a constitutional 
amendment, prohibiting any member of Congress from 
being appointed to any Federal office during the term for 
which he was elected. This also would have been a meas- 
ure of great usefulness. 

The tariff of 1828, a purely sectional measure, was a 
strong issue in the next campaign. The Eastern States, 
originally in favor of free trade, after building up manu- 
facturing interests, became strongly protective, while the 
Southern States, at first protective, wheeled into the free- 
trade ranks. Being non-manufacturers, of course protec- 
tion was against their interests, and this they had learned; 
while the sterile soil of New England, productive of nothing, 
must look to a high tariff to enable them to compete with 
English manufacturers. A moderate tariff had been sup- 
ported by the Southern States, but they very naturally 
objected to its being made ruinously high. 

In 1828 Jackson was elected by a vast majority; the 
people taking this method of righting his wrongs and also to 
protest against excessive protection and unconstitutional in- 
ternal improvements. In the 1829-1830 session of Congress, 
occurred the famous debate between Hayne and Webster, in 
which the policy of nullification was defined. In his mes- 
sage to Congress, Jackson called attention to the expiration, 
in 1836, of the national bank charter. His views of its 
unconstitutionality, especially as a mongrel institution part 
individual and part governmental, must now seem to every- 
one to have been correct. 

This message made the bank the bitter enemy of the ad- 
ministration, and this continued until and through the next 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 475 

campaign. The National Republicans (Whigs) adopted the 
quarrel of the bank and made its re-chartering one of the 
planks of their platform, at their Baltimore Convention, in 
December, 1831. In 1811, as already shown, the Repub- 
licans (Democrats) had prevented the renewal, but in 1816 
they had re-established it against the utmost efforts of the 
Federalists to defeat it. 

Now they had completely changed sides, and with the aid 
of a few Democrats succeeded in passing the measure 
through both Houses, only to meet with Jackson's prompt 
veto, which was sustained. On the adjournment of Congress, 
Jackson had the government moneys removed from the 
bank. For this removal, he gave his reasons in his next 
message, which reasons were backed by the report of 
Roger B. Taney, at that time Secretary of the Treasury. 

In order to defeat the President's resolution, the bank so 
managed its funds as to cause all the embarassment possible 
to the people and business of the country, and petitions 
were sent to both Houses by the people. The Senate 
passed resolutions censuring the President, and the House 
appointed a committee of investigation, with ample powers 
to inquire into the affairs and management of the bank. 
Its reception by the managers of that mongrel institution 
was contemptuous in the extreme. They refused to be 
sworn, or to give access to their books, and at the next 
session the committee asked that they be brought before the 
bar of the House to answeH for their contempt. 

Owing to the opposition of the bank's partisans in the 
House, nothing came of the committee's complaint, but this 
arbitrary course of the bunk lost it much of its popular 
support. In the Senate th "t names of the four goverment 
directors of the bank sent i< by the President were refused 



47(3 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

confirmation. Again sent in, they were again refused con- 
firmation, as was also Roger B. Taney for Secretary of 
the Treasury. The Finance Committee of the Senate, see- 
ing that the bank's course was estranging the public, did 
make an investigation and report, both so incomplete, par- 
tial and untruthful, that it only increased the distrust. 

This was the first whitewashing committee in American 
politics. The bank very deservedly soon after came to 
grief, its assets being seized and the institution became in a 
short time a mere reminiscence. Jackson's Cabinet change 
— really only a party quarrel — was magnified by the opposi- 
tion into a calamitious affair. VanBuren was awarded, and 
most probably justly so, the greatest blame for this quar- 
rel between Jackson and Calhoun, then Vice-President. 

In November, 1832, South Carolina issued the **nullifi- 
cation ordinance," in consequence of the oppressive tariff 
then in force. It declared that Congress had unconstitu- 
tionally exceeded its powers in imposing high and excessive 
duties, etc., and further declared the right of the State to 
arrest their operation within its limits, and fixed the date of 
this act going into effect on the 1st day of February, 1833. 
Upon receipt of the official notification of the passage 
of this act, Jackson issued a proclamation commanding 
the people to obey the law, and declaring that he should 
not hesitate to use arms in enforcing the laws. His inter- 
pretation of the governmental powers prove that the sol- 
dier greatly exceeded the statesman in Jackson's make up, 
but he acted with all honor and honesty. 

The threatening aspect of affairs in South Carolina and 
Jackson's preparations for enforcing the tariff led to the 
passage of Clay's **Compromise Bill," In February, 1833. A 
heated debate followed theintroductioTi in the Senate of acts 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 477 

recommended by Jackson, to enable him to force a compliance 
with the laws by the people of South Carolina. These 
measures were odious to many of the Senators, but had 
a strong advocate in Mr. Webster, who here found a chance 
to reiterate the sentiments and beliefs expressed in his debate 
with Mr. Hayne. 

The Democrats were at this time emphatically hard money 
men, and Benton so classed them in his famous speech in the 
Senate, in 1834. That coin was to be the currency of the 
country was certainly the intention of the framers of the 
Constitution, and Hamilton in 1791 (while Secretary of the 
Treasury) first planned a paper circulating medium . The 
bill introduced in the House, in 1834, making foreign 
coin a legal tender and equalizing gold and silvervalues, was 
true Democratic legislation and speedily relieved the country 
from the panic incident to the conduct and wreck of the 
national bank. 

In 1835, through the mediation of Great Britain, the 
French spoliations claim was paid. This was promised by 
the treaty of 1831, but through measures of pique had been 
refused by the French, though every provision for its pay- 
ment had been made. Some offense had been given to, or 
fancied by them, in the President's message and they had de- 
clared an intention to withhold payment of this claim, for 
which the money had been voted and collected, until he 
should apologize for his expressions. 

Though anti-slavery measures had already become com- 
mon, yet it was not until this time that it had developed a 
fanatical agitation. The society of Friends (Quakers) of 
Philadelphia sent in a petition urgingthe abolition of slavery 
in the District of Columbia and this was followed by a 
deluge of similar memorials from individuals and abolition 



478 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

societies. Nor did they confine themselves to Congressional 
petitions, but scattered broadcast throughout the Southern 
States incendiary publications calculated to inflame sectional 
predjudice and to produce servile insurrections. 

In all of the Northern abolition societies the fanatical 
element secured control, and the most terrible threats were 
made. The slaves were informed of their right to personal 
freedom and were advised to secure this in any manner they 
saw fit. They were told that murder and arson were no 
crimes when committed for this purpose, but were alto- 
gether desirable and praiseworthy. To counteract these 
infamous machinations, the slave-holders offered rewards 
for the arrest of any one found disseminating incendiary 
literature in the South. 

A vigilance committee in Louisiana offered a reward of 
$50,000 for the delivery to them of Arthur Tappan, a New 
York Abolitionist, who obtained an unsavory notoriety 
through his connection with Monroe Edwards, the great 
American forger. John A. Murrell, known as the great 
Western Land Pirate, was another instrument of the Abo- 
litionists; at least, he claimed to his clansmen that he had 
the aid and sanction of the Tappans and others, in the ser- 
vile insurrection which he planned, but which, after his in- 
carceration in the Tennessee penitentiary, was discovered 
and suppressed by the execution of about a dozen of its 
leaders in Mississippi. 

The conservative element at the North held meetings and 
denounced the course of the agitators as calculated, and 
very justly, too, to incite the indignation of the Southern 
people, and to endanger not only their lives and property 
but also the safety of their wives and children. Perceiving 
that they had been too hasty in unmasking, some of the 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 479 

Abolition leaders declared that the incendiary measures 
complained of were not authorized by the party, but were 
the acts of individuals over whom they exerted no control 
and with whom they had no affiliation. Though false, this 
for a time allayed the excessive agitation that prevailed in 
the threatened communities. 

The amount of faith due to the disclaimers of these 
leaders may be correctly judged by after events, and the 
politicians of that day did not have long to wait until they 
found of how little worth they were. The mine of public 
indignation which they had exploded only led them to be 
more cautious in avowing their machinations and inciting 
their agents to covert instead of open measures in their 
combat against slavery. 



480 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTEEE Xm. 

POLITICAL MEASURES NEW PARTIES. 



THE ANTI-MASONIC PARTY. AN EPHEMERAL AFFAIR. A FANCIFUL 

CRUSADE AN UNSCRUPULOUS POLITICIAN. CLAY'S SURPLUS 

DISTRIBUTION MEASURES. THE DEMOCRACY DECEIVED. UNWISE 

ACTION AND ITS EFFECTS VAN BUREN ELECTED PRESIDENT. 

A FINE ADDRESS. THE FINANCIAL PANIC OF 1837. REPEAL OF 

JACKSON'S CIRCULAR. AN EXTRA SESSION CALLED. DEMO- 
CRATIC VIEWS AND ACTIONS URGED. AN INDEPENDENT TREASURY 

ADVISED. WHIG OPPOSITION. LAND, BANKING AND ANTI- 
SLAVERY AGITATION. PETITION OF THE VERMONT LEGISLATURE. 

THE CALHOUN RESOLUTIONS. A WHIG SPEAKER ELECTED. 

PAIRING OFF INVENTED. THE LOG CABIN CAMPAIGN. 

SILLY SENTIMENTALITY. TIPPECANOE AND TYLER TOO. HAR- 
RISON ELECTED HIS ONE MONTH'S RULE. JOHN TYLER SUC- 
CEEDS TO THE PRESIDENCY. DEMOCRATIC MEASURES REPEALED. 

ALL DEBTS ABOLISHED. CLAY'S PET MEASURE. THE HOUR 

RULE ADOPTED. HARRISON'S WIDOW PENSIONED. MODERN 

EPAMINONDASES. JEFFERSON'S SERVICES AND HIS POVERTY. 

MONROE'S LOST FORTUNES. JACKSON'S EMBARRASSMENTS. 

DEMOCRATIC LOYALTY TO THE CONSTITUTION. GREAT MEN 

AND INVALUABLE SERVICES. FEDERALIST ROBBERY. 

The Anti-Masonic Party, which originated in New York 
in 1826, had a varied experience and a checkered career, 
but it wouhl be useless to waste any s[)ace in its considera- 
tion since it proved but an ephemeral affair, with no living 
principles, and only a foolish prejudice in their stead. 
There was about it no element of strength and we may con- 
sider it rather as a fanciful crusade a":ainst a secret orc^ani- 
zation than as a political party. It had its inception in the 
abduction and final disappearance of Morgan, consequent 
upon his disclosure of the principles of Free-Masonry. 
The late Thurlow Weed, unscrupulous even for a profes- 
sional politician, made considerable capital out of this affair 
in a very unenviable way. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 481 

Clay's distribution measures in 1836 — a plan for distri- 
buting amongst the States the surplus moneys resulting 
from sales of public lands, were foolishly passed by the 
Democrats and sanctioned by the President, though very 
reluctantly. To these measures the suspension of specie 
payment, financial difficulties and the defeat of 1840 have 
all been attributed. Certain it is, that they greatly embar- 
rassed Jackson's successor and very likely aided in placing 
Harrison in the Presidential Chair, in 1840. 

VanBuren was the Democratic candidate in 1836 and 
notwithstanding the defection of the Hugh L. White wing 
of the party, defeated the Whig candidate, Harrison, by a 
large majority. YanBuren's inaugural address may be con- 
sidered almost an ideal Democratic document, and the peo- 
ple hoped for a continuance of the public and private weal. 
The distribution measures were soon to disturb this condi- 
tion of affairs. On the 10th day of May, 1837, the banks 
all stopped specie payments, and the people followed suit. 

Now, when too late, it was seen that the deposit with the 
States of a surplus of $40,000,000, and the repeal of Jack- 
son's circular requiring all payments for land to be made 
in specie, instead of bringing unlimited prosperity, had 
brought the reverse, and the Democrats realized that it was 
a shrewd Federal measure, when the bank of the United 
States, a Federal institution, was hailed as the savior of the 
country. So great was the distress on every hand, that 
VanBuren felt it a necessity to call an extra session of Con- 
gress to devise means for its relief. 

In his message to Congress the President stated that he 
attributed the panic to the causes already mentioned and 
recommended that the Treasury be made an entirely dis- 
tinct branch, and that treasury notes be issued for the deficit 



482 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

then existing. He advised that the deposit then due the 
States, under the act of 1836, be withheld and also ap- 
phiuded Jackson's "specie circular," and advised that no 
further connection be had by the government with any bank 
of issue. 

These recommendations were, under the circumstances, 
eminently wise and proper, but the Whigs, fearing that 
their cause might be injured by the relief of the existing 
distress, fouo'ht hard ao^ainst them. Able as were the 
speakers who placed themselves in opposition to the admin- 
istration, (Clay, Webster and others), the measures recom- 
mended by Mr. VanBuren were carried. No outside bank- 
ing business, and land and revenue dues to be payable only 
in coin were once again affirmed as Democratic doctrines. 

In addition to these measures and the discussion of land 
and banking matters, anti-slavery agitation was again 
prominent. Petitions from Abolition citizens and societies 
were not the only means employed; the Vermont Legisla- 
ture asking that slavery be abolished in the District of 
Columbia and the Territories, and that no future slave 
State be admitted to the Union. In answer to these peti- 
tions, Mr. Calhoun had passed in the Senate resolutions de- 
claring what had already been affirmed by Congress, that the 
Federal government had no power to interfere with slavery 
in the States, and that it was not advisable to abolish it in 
the Territories, or the District of Columbia. 

The contest for the Speakership of the House in the 
XXVIth Congress was unusually exciting, and ended in the 
election of R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, a Whig, although the 
Representatives stood 122 Democrats and 113 Whigs. A few 
Democrats under the lead of Calhoun acted with the Whigs 
and elected Hunter. The final and complete separation of 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 483 

the Treasury from all State banks was a leading measure of 
this body. The Whigs fought fiercely against this measure, 
but were at last beaten. ''Pairing off" was invented during 
this session and severely and justly condemned by John 
Quincy Adams in a resolution offered in the House, but 
which was never voted on. 

The campaign of 1840 was a surprising one in its silly 
sentimentality and the amount of clap trap and humbug- 
used to infuse enthusiasm into the masses. Log cabins on 
wheeled platforms, with coon skins tacked up on the doors, 
were the rostrums from which the Harrison leaders ad- 
dressed the masses. * "Tippecanoef nick name for Harrison ) 
and Tyler too," was their slogan, and this hurrah and ex- 
citement, combined with the mistake of the Democrats in 
1836, carried Harrison into the Presidency. 

The nomination of Harrison was a sad blow to the am- 
bition of Mr. Clay, the greatest and ablest of the Whig 
leaders, but Harrison did not live long to enjoy his triumph; 
his term of office being exactly one month (he died April 4, 
1841). He was the first of the Presidents who had died in 
office, and John Tyler was the first Vice-President that had 
succeeded to the Presidency. The XXVHth Congress had a 
Whig majority in both branches, and Mr. W^hite of Ken- 
tucky was elected Speaker of the House. As might have 
been expected, old Federal measures again became popular. 

The independence of the Treasury was declared a fallacy 
and the Democratic Act of the preceding session was re- 
pealed. A Bankruptcy Act was passed that practically 
abolished all debts ; the proceedings for release from obli- 
gations to be taken before the Federal courts at the will of 
the debtor. All that was necessary to absolve from all 
debt was to surrender the effects of the debtor and to evade 



484 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

a proof of fraud. The land revenue distribution — another 
pet measure of the Federalists, especially of Clay — was 
recommended by Mr. Tyler and passed by Whig votes. 
Calhoun's speeches against this measure are unusually 
strong. 

The hour rule was adopted at this session by the House, 
but Clay failed to have it adopted by the Senate, the rule 
being opposed by both Democrats and Whigs. A bill for 
pensioning the widow of Harrison (for it was nothing else) 
w^as offered and carried by the Whigs, despite the opposition 
of the Democratic members, who showed that Jefferson, 
Monroe, Madison and Jackson had left the Presidency poor 
and in debt, and that no Democrat had dared to oppose the 
Constitution and create a private pension list by voting 
to them or their heirs or widows pecuniary aid. 

The whole human family, said one Democratic member, 
owed more to Jefferson than to any other one man, and his 
estate and even his furniture were sold to pay his debts, 
and his very grave had been made in soil belonging to a 
stranger. Monroe, a patriot of the Eevolution, whose later 
life had been worn out in the civil service, had lost his es- 
tate, his family was scattered and a loved daughter lay 
buried in a foreign land. Madison had to borrow money 
to pay his debts contracted in the public service and his 
case had been that of Jackson, but the Democracy had 
never gone to the public Treasury and drawn the people's 
money to relieve them. 

This was not because the Democracy did not value these 
grand men ; not that they did not possess a proper amount 
of gratitude, but that such a proceeding was neither con- 
stitutional, patriotic, honest, nor honorable. These were 
great men, who had rendered invaluable services to their 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 485 

country and the Democratic party properly appreciated 
them and their services, but it was left for the Federal 
party to rob the public Treasury for the pensioning of pri- 
vate parties. This principle, originating with the Federal- 
ists, was carried out by the Whigs, and has descended to 
their successors in opposition to Democracy, the (Black) 
Republican party. 

It is but just to the Federalists to say that their raids up- 
on the Treasury were confined to the comparatively legiti- 
mate filchings alluded to, viz: that of civil pensions. It 
would be well for the people of the Republic, if the Repub- 
lican party had strictly followed the example of the aristo- 
cratic Federalist, for then we should have been spared their 
land and salary grabs, their Credit Mobiliers, their railway 
jobbery, their star-route thefts, their naval contract and 
Indian Bureau robbery and their countless other villainies 
and infamies. 



486 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER XIV. 

POLITICAL MEASURES ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 



NAVAL FUND CONSUMED. WILD WHIG LEGISLATION. THE LOAN 

BILL AND TARIFF. CALHOUN'S ANSWER TO CLAY. AN- 
OTHER BANK BILL. TYLER'S VETO. CLAY CENSURES THE 

PRESIDENT. RESIGNATION OF THE CABINET. STILL ANOTHER 

VETO BY TYLER. THE WHIG ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE. CALEB 

CUSHING'S DEFENCE OF THE PRESIDENT. CLAY RESIGNS FROM 

THE SENATE. HIS FAREWELL ADDRESS. A BANKRUPT GOVERN- 
MENT. THE WHIGS IN DESPAIR. A DOUBLE MEASURE. AD- 
MINISTRATION FOLLY. LOSING THEIR POWER. VAN BUREN'S 

NOMINATION DEFEATED. THE FIRST DARK HORSE. CLAY THE 

WHIG CANDIDATE. THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. THE SITUA- 
TION ACCEPTED. A NEW PARTY. POLK'S MESSAGE. DEMO- 
CRATIC LEGISLATION RECOMMENDED. 54-40, OR FIGHT. A DEFI- 
NITE BOUNDARY LINE SOUGHT FOR. THE TREATY FINALLY CON- 
CLUDED. WAR WITH MEXICO DECLARED. INTRODUCTION OF 

THE WILMOT PROVISO. FURIOUS CONTENTIONS. CALHOUN'S 

RESOLUTION. 

The Act of March 3, 1837, had so increased and extended 
the naval pensions that the fund created by the government 
for such pensions had been entirely consumed. To create 
this fund the government had dedicated its share of all naval 
prize moneys and after this had been absorbed the pensions 
became a charge upon the Treasury. This had never been 
contemplated in establishing these pensions, and the Demo- 
crats now sought to amend the Act of 1837, but were de- 
feated by the Whigs. 

A loan bill of $12,000,000 was also passed, and it was pro- 
posed to do away with the Compromise Tariff Act of 1833. 
Clay and Clayton, of Delaware, author of the bill, had been 
aided by Mr. Calhoun in bringing about this compromise. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 487 

and Calhoun still defended it. Clay, however, made another 
of his many changes of position and advocated the new 
measure, which was carried by the Whigs. Calhoun's speech 
in answer to Clay on this bill was a splendid effort, and its 
sarcastic paralleling of the Tory party of England and the 
Whig party of America, caused the latter to wince, and was 
absolutely unanswerable. 

A national bank bill was also passed by the Whigs, but 
some of its provisions did not meet with the approval of 
Tyler, and he was forced to veto it. This was a consistent 
measure of Tyler, as, when a member of the Democratic 
party, he had declared his belief in the unconstitutionality 
of such legislation. Clay censured the conduct of the 
President in this matter rather harshly, but the necessary 
two-thirds majority could not be secured to pass the bill 
over the President's veto, and it failed. After the second 
veto by Tyler, his Cabinet, with the exception of Mr. 
Webster, resigned. 

Again the bill was tinkered up by the Whigs, offered by 
Mr. Sargeant, of Pennsylvania, passed by a considerable 
majority in the House, concurred in by the Senate, and 
promptly vetoed by Mr. Tyler. The Whigs now issued an 
address to the people, claiming that they had been betrayed 
by the President, whom they thenceforth repudiated utterly 
and entirely. This address was answered by Caleb Cush- 
ing, who attributed the dissatisfaction of the memorialists 
to Clay's dictation and dissatisfaction that Mr. Tyler would 
not be made a tool of by a party caucus. 

Tyler, unable to make his peace with the Whig party, or 
the Democrats whom he had once deserted, retired after his 
term of office to private life. Clay, disappointed in his am- 
bition to become President, unable to carry his pet meas- 



488 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

ures and disgusted with the chieftain that he had helped 
into power, resigned his Senatorial position, making the 
occasion the subject of a valedictory address, in which he 
claimed that though he might have been guilty of errors, he 
had never intentionally, or from pride, vanity or personal 
aggrandizement, given his support to a single measure of 
doubtful utility or dishonest import. 

The government was now without money and without 
credit, and the Whigs resorted almost to the Democratic 
measure they had been so anxious to annul — the abolition 
of the land revenue distribution — by a bill temporarily sus- 
pending it. This measure, and a bill for increasing the 
tariff, both met with the President's veto. A bill was now 
introduced fixing an increase of the tariff over the twenty 
per cent, compromise rate, and a suspension of the land 
revenue distribution while this increased tariff amendment 
was in force. This was passed and approved by the Pres- 
ident. Notwithstanding the crippled condition of the coun- 
try's finances, the Whigs offered and passed measures pro- 
viding for a great increase in the naval force. 

The foolish and extravagant legislation of the Whigs lost 
them their majority in the next (XXVIIIth) Congress, 
which met December 28, 1843. The Democrats elected 
their candidate for Speaker of the House, by a vote of 128 
to 59. The President's message to this Congress was an 
unimportant document. It called attention to the Oregon 
boundary line and that of the Northwestern territory, and 
recommended a government issue of paper money. 

In the Democratic Convention of 1844, although South 
Carolina sent no delegates, yet Mr. Calhoun was able to 
defeat the nomination of VanBuren, and indirectly cause 
that of James K. Polk, who was a candidate for the Vice- 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 489 

Presidency. This was the origination of the ** dark horse'* 
in American politics, and was a great surprise to every one. 
The opposition of Calhoun to VanBuren was caused by 
their avowed difference in regard to the annexation of Texas, 
which the former advocated and the latter opposed. 

Clay was named as the Whig candidate, but the people were 
in no mood for another Whig administration, and Polk and 
Dallas were elected. In this campaign, in addition to other 
party differences, the Democracy espoused the annexation 
of Texas, while the Whigs arrayed themselves in opposition 
to it. In his last message to Congress, Tyler recommended 
the annexation, and this called out a great many speeches, 
pro and con. The final annexation of Texas was the sub- 
ject of much bitter debate and not a little intrigue. By its 
acceptance and incorporation, its war with Mexico was 
tacitly adopted. 

In the XXIXth Congress, the American party — a new 
political organization — was first represented, having in the 
House four members from New York and two from Penn- 
sylvania. Polk called the attention of Congress to the fact 
of the preparation of Mexico for a war w^ith the United 
States, and advised, on account of the failure of that coun- 
try to adhere to the treaty of 1839, that the American Gov- 
ernment should take the initiative in declarins: war. He 
recommended a revision of the tariff, making protection 
merely incidental. 

Florida as a slave State, and Iowa as a free State, were 
admitted at this session. The indefinite boundary line of 
1842, called for the *' 54-40, or fight " plank in the Demo- 
cratic platform of 1844, and in August of that year, the 
British and American Governments beo^an negotiations for 
the establishment of a definite boundary line. Mr. Calhoun, 



490 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OE 

then Secretary of State, proposed as a boundary, from 
ocean to ocean, the parallel of 49 degrees of north latitude. 
This proposal was modified by the British Minister, and the 
modification rejected by Calhoun. Polk was in favor of 
the 54-40 line, and had so declared in his inaugural address. 

The 49th degree was finally agreed upon by the British 
Government, but the time for its immediate acceptance had 
passed, and the people declared for *' 54-40, or fight." Dis- 
posed to accept the 49th degree as the boundary, but not 
desiring to court the furious opposition of the press and 
people, the President referred the matter to the Senate, 
which advised the acceptance of the British proposition, and 
the treaty was concluded. 

War with Mexico was declared, and at the same time the 
administration made secret efforts for a peaceable adjust- 
ment of the diflSculties between the two nations. The 
**Wilmot proviso," a foolish and useless measure, by a 
silly fanatic from Pennsylvania, was introduced into the 
House at this session. It provided, *' that no part of the 
territory to be acquired (by the $3,000,000 boundary ap- 
propriation that had been placed at the disjx)sal of the 
President) should be open to the introduction of slavery." 
Calhoun promptly denounced the proviso as a gratuitous 
menace to the slave-holding States, but for two sessions it 
was furiously contended for and against. 

Finally defeated, Mr. Calhoun offered a resolution de- 
claring the territories the common property of the States, 
and denied the right of Congress to prohibit the introduc- 
tion of slave property. This resolution never reached a vote. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS, 491 



CHAPTER XV. 

POLITICAL MEASURES — MISSOURI COMPROMISE ANNULLED. 



A WHIG HOUSE AND SPEAKER. ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION AND THE 

MISSOURI COMPROMISE. AN AMENDED BILL PASSED. THE 

DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION OF 1848. OLD ROUGH AND READY. 

A HEROIC EPIGRAM. TAYLOR ELECTED PRESIDENT. POLK'S 

LAST MESSAGE. A PROSPEROUS CONDITION. DEPARTMENT OF 

THE INTERIOR CREATED. WHIG MAJORITY IN CONGRESS. A 

DEMOCRATIC SPEAKER. MEASURES INTRODUCED BY CLAY. 

SEWARD'S RESOLUTION REJECTED. INFAMOUS SCHEMES. 



TRAITOROUS DOCTRINES. ABOLITION OR SECESSION CAL- 
HOUN'S LAST SPEECH. WEBSTER'S TRIBUTE TO HIM. DEATH 

OF GENERAL TAYLOR. A BRAVE SOLDIER AND AN HONEST 

STATESMAN. BILL FOR ADMISSION OF CALIFORNIA. A SENA- 
TORIAL PROTEST. THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE ANNULLED. 

THE CONVENTION AT NASHVILLE. 

In the session beginning in December, 1847, the House 
had a Whig majority, and Winthrop, of Massachusetts, a 
Whig candidate, was elected Speaker. In his message to 
this Congress the President called attention to the American 
victories of Taylor and Scott and the occupation of the city 
of Mexico, and announced that negotiations for a treaty of 
peace were then in progress. Anti-slavery agitation was 
resumed, owing to the proposed organization of the Terri- 
tory of Oregon. An amendment to the bill proposing its 
exclusion was offered, which provided for the extension of 
the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific. 

Unable to pass this bill, it was amended by the insertion 
of the Anti-slavery clause of 1787. Calhoun now declared 
that this unconstitutional and adverse leg^islation was a sub- 
version of the Union, and declared it the duty of the slave 
States to secede from a bond in which they had nothing 



492 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

certain save open menace and continual insult. The amended 
bill was passed and approved by the President, who advised 
strict compliance with its provisions. 

In the Democratic Convention of 1848, non-interference 
with slavery in the Territories was the main question for 
adoption into the platform. New York sent two sets of 
deleofates, both of which were excluded. Lewis Cass and 
William O. Butler were the nominees of the party. The 
Whigs nominated General Zachary Taylor, who, if not a 
Democrat, was certainly not a party man, as he himself 
often announced. He had proved himself, in the Mexican 
war, the very incarnation of the American military spirit, 
and though robbed of his regular troops by General Scott, 
made the most glorious fight of the whole war at Buena 
Vista, where with his gallant volunteers he beat off the 
Mexicans who outnumbered him five to one. 

*'01d Rough and Ready," as he was popularly called, 
knew how to awaken and hold the enthusiasm of his men, 
and at this battle gave an instance of his ready wit. An 
officer came to him with the information that the enemy 
were in very heavy force, at least five men to one. 

**That's all right," said the old hero, *'I'd as lief whip 
them five to one, as man to man," and whip them he did to 
their hearts' content. 

It was useless to attempt to stem the popular tide, and 
on the strength of his war record and his personal heroism, 
Taylor floated into the Presidency with a good majority. 

The Free-Soil Democrats — a dincontented following of 
Van Buren — met at Utica and announced their platform. 
Though not suflSciently Democrats to adhere to the party, yet 
they were too strongly Democratic to go to the lengths of the 
Abolitionists in opposing the Constitution. They nominated 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 493 

Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams, and did not 
secure a single electoral vote. 

In his last message to Congress, Polk recommended the 
extension of the Missouri Compromise line westward to 
the Pacific, and pronounced this the best means of quieting 
the anti-slavery agitation by giving a definite and uniform 
limit to the slave territory. He spoke of the prosperous 
condition of the country now on the Democratic basis of a 
metallic currency. The government loans commanded high 
premiums; a successful war had been waged against a 
treacherous and unscrupulous enemy, and the American peo- 
ple were now at peace with the world. At this session the 
Department of the Interior, or as it was then called, the 
Home Department, was created. 

General Taylor was inaugurated March 4, 1849. In the 
Congress that assembled in December, there was a Whig ma- 
jority, but enough of them were from Southern States for 
the Democrats to elect the Speaker of the House, (Cobb, 
of Georgia,) by a bare majority of three votes. In the 
Senate, in addition to Calhoun and Webster, Clay again 
appeared. The two former had a mighty debate upon the 
organization of the territories of California and New 
Mexico. Calhoun and other Southern members issued an 
address to the people upon the condition of affairs, and the 
excitement was intense. 

In order to appease the irritation of both parties, Taylor 
recommended that California be at once admitted as a 
State, when the slavery question could be settled by the 
vote of her people, and that there be no further agitation 
of the question for Utah and New Mexico until they had a 
sufiicient population to come into the Union as States, and 
that then they should be allowed to settle the vexed ques- 



494 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

tion for themselves. Clay introduced compromise meas- 
ures, but they were opposed by both Northern and Southern 
members. Seward proposed the application to the ques- 
tion of the Wilmot proviso, but his resolution was rejected 
by a majority of the Senate. 

The evident purpose of the Abolition and ultra Federals 
was now, and had been for years, to irritate, and by every 
means in their power to so menace and annoy the Southern 
States as to force them to withdraw from the Union. Already 
their leaders had pronounced the Constitution ''a league 
with death, a covenant with hell," and had spoken of the 
starry banner as a *' flaunting lie." They, themselves, 
hated the Union far more bitterly than did the South, but 
they had not the courage to secede themselves, and only 
hoped to be able to cause the slave States to do so. 

In Calhoun's last speech he showed that if the aggres- 
sions of the anti-slavery fanatics continued, the choice of 
the South must lay between abolition and secession — noth- 
ing else would be left to her. Early in 1850 this strong 
advocate of States rights passed away, having reached the 
ripe age of sixty-eight years. He was probably the clearest 
thinker and most loi>:ical reasoner that American statesman- 
ship has ever known, and Webster said of him, that his integ- 
rity was unspotted^ his honor unimpeachable, and his char- 
acter high and noble. 

In July of this year (1850) General Tayler died after a 
four days illness, the second of our Presidents who had died 
with the harness on. In his short term of service, in his 
election on account of the popular enthusiasm for a mili- 
tary hero, and in his triumphing as a Whig candidate with 
that party at its last gasp, we see a striking parallel between 
Taylor and Harrison. Had Taylor lived, he might have 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 495 

been potent in allaying, in some measure, the party 
strife. Raised a soldier, his mind seemed intuitively to 
grasp the proper solution of political emergencies, and in his 
message we find a wonderful breadth of view and nobility 
and honesty of purpose. 

Millard Fillmore now succeeded to the Presidency, and in 
appointing his Cabinet he made Daniel Webster Secretary 
of State. In the Senate an amendment proposing the estab- 
lishment of the Missouri Compromise line in California was 
added to the bill proposing the admission of that State to the' 
Union. The amendment was lost, and the bill carried by a 
two-thirds vote. Upon this, ten Southern Senators drew up 
a written protest against the passage of this bill. This pro- 
test was refused permission to be entered upon the journal 
of the Senate. The House concurred in the bill for admis- 
sion, it was approved by the President, and thus was the 
Missouri Compromise killed. 

A newspaper (The Southern Press) was established at 
Washington by those Senators who had joined in Calhoun's 
address to the people, and the question of secession was 
boldly discussed. A convention for furthering this scheme 
was held at Nashville, and South Carolina and Mississippi 
sent delegates. The other Southern States were invited to 
co-operate in selecting and sending delegates to a Southern 
Congress, but the refusal of Georgia and the other States to 
participate for a time did away with the movement. 



496 LITE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER XVI. 

POLITICAL MEASURES— SECESSION PROPOSED. 



A skulker's paradise. ABOLITIONIST CHANGE OF TONE. 



PEACEFUL DISSOLUTION OF THE UNION DEMANDED. THE WHIGS 

OF 1852. A SECOND DARK HORSE. JOHN P. HALE'S CANDI- 
DACY. PIERCE'S OVERWHELMING MAJORITY. THE NATIVE 

AMERICAN PARTY. THE TEST IN NEW YORK CITY. SCOTCHED 

BUT NOT KILLED. A SECRET ORGANIZxVTiON. WHAT FOR- 
EIGNERS OWE THE DEMOCRACY. ORGANIZATION OF NEBRASKA. 

DOUGLAS SQUATTER SOVEREIGNTY DOCTRINE. THE KANSAS 

TROUBLES AGAIN. THE PRESIDENT'S PROCLAMATION. THE 

DRED SCOTT DECISION. APPEALED TO THE U. S. SUPREME 

COURT, INCENDIARY THREATS. THE NATIVE AMERICAN PLAT- 
FORM. SECRET ORDER POLITICS. THE WHIG ENDORSEMENT. 

The first appearance of Abolitionism in American 
politics (in 1840) has already been alluded to and its pro- 
gress described elsewhere. It had increased in power with 
wonderful rapidity, offering, as it did, a refuge for disap- 
pointed Democrats and despairing Whigs, who were willing 
to do anything to beat the Democracy. These Abolition- 
ists, elated at the success of the anti-slavery agitation, now 
began anew to petition for the extinguishment of slavery. 
The party in 1840 favored all constitutional methods of 
abridging and restricting slavery ; later it favored any means 
of abolishing it. Their continual agitation for the abolish- 
ing of slavery in the District of Columbia finally brought 
about that measure. 

Disunion plans of the anti-slavery agitators were unmasked 
by the petitions of citizens of Delaware and Pennsylvania, 
which declared slavery contrary to the Divine law, that it 
was an unmitigated evil, and that no union could exist with 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 497 

States which tolerated it. These petitions prayed that some 
plan be devised for the peaceful and immediate dissolution 
of the Union. 

In 1852 the Whigs attempted to repeat their victory with 
General Taylor, by offering to the people as their candidate 
General Winfield Scott, another Mexican war hero. Scott had 
neither the popular manners, the dignity, nor the native sense 
and uncompromising tirmness of Taylor, and was rather well 
described in his popular sobriquet of "Ohl Fuss and 
Feathers.'* His nickname was not the sort of slogan with 
which to fire the popular heart, and he was ejisily and badly 
beaten by the second *'dark horse" of the Democracy, 
Franklin Pierce. 

Pierce had a large popular majority over both Whig and 
Abolition candidates, and his electoral majority was tremen- 
dous. In this campaign the Abolitionists, or as they called 
themselves. Independent Democrats, ran John P. Hale as 
their candidate and only polled 157,926 votes, against the 
296,232 which Gerritt Smith-their candidate in 1848-polled. 
This falling off seemed a healthy indication that party pas- 
sion was subsiding, but this proved a fallacy. 

As the Whigs were now destined to disappear from the 
stage of American politics, it may be well to review the 
rise, progress and fall of the native American party, whose 
maxim was that ''Americans (native born) should rule 
America," and whose watchword was the order of General 
Washington on a momentous occasion during the Revolu- 
tion, "Put none but Americans on guard to-night." This 
party had its inception in 1835 and grew with wonderful 
rapidity until 1837. In this year the Democracy gave it its 
quietus for a time, the issue being made on the New York 
City mayorality election. 



498 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

In 1844 it was again active and carried the city by a fair 
majority. In Philadelphia the new party occasioned fu- 
rious riots, in which its adherents destroyed two Catholic 
churches, and they also carried that city. New York and 
Pennsylvania together sent six native American Repre- 
sentatives to the XXIXth Congress, which convened in 
December, 1845. The abuses of the party in 1844 had so 
alienated the better elements, that in the XXXth Congress 
a single Native American Representative (from Pennsylva- 
nia) was all that remained of the party. 

In 1852 the party again appeared; this time as a secret 
society, known to outsiders as "Know Nothings." In this 
way, massing its votes by secret instructions upon certain 
candidates, the organization began to develop a wonderful 
power, and could it have won over any considerable Dem- 
ocratic following, it would have swept the country at the 
next election, and abolished forever alien suffrage and the 
holding of office by foreigners. By the watchfulness and 
incorruptibility of the Democracy, the right of francbise 
and of office was reserved to all citizens, who by residence 
and naturalization chose to become citizens of the United 
States. So much for the debt which all foreign born citi- 
zens owe to the Democratic party. 

In 1853 a bill for a territorial organization for Nebraska, 
(embracing the present territory of Kansas and Nebraska) 
in which no mention of the Missouri Compromise repeal was 
made, was tabled, but it was revived at the next session, 
amended by Mr. Douglas with his squatter sovereignty 
clause. It was favorably received. In the Senate Mr. Clayton 
moved an amendment prohibiting alien suffrage, which was 
killed in the House, and the bill passed without it. For a 
proper consideration of the stormy measures attending the 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 499 

organization of Kansas, a volume the size of the present 
one would hardly prove sufficient. 

So great had the party troubles become by the close of 
1855 that they were made by the President the occasion of 
a special message to Congress. The date of this message 
was January 24, 185G, and early in February a proclama- 
tion was issued, warning unlawful combinations to disperse 
peaceably, or the local militia and United States forces 
would be called out to quell their insurrectionary measures. 
So fierce were these dissensions that for years Kansas was 
in a state of continual anarchy and bloodshed. Kansas 
finally became a State in January, 1861. 

The Dred Scott case, under the Fugitive Slave Act of 
1850, was a very celebrated one, and deserves some men- 
tion here. It came up in the United States Circuit Court 
for the District of Missouri , at the April term, 1854. The 
case was entitled Dred Scott against John F. A. Sanford, 
and recited that the defendant, plaintiff's alleged owner, had 
committed a trespass vi et armis in unlawfully holding 
plaintiff, his wife and daughter, in slavery in said District 
of Missouri. 

From the Circuit Court the case was appealed to the 
United States Supreme Court, where a majority of the Jus- 
tices declared that slaves being property, and being so ex- 
pressly declared by the Constitution, the Act of Congress 
prohibiting their being held and owned beyond any certain 
limit was unconstitutional, and therefore void. The lamen- 
table action of the slave States in 1861 was no doubt pre- 
cipitated, if not entirely caused, by the incautious avowal by 
those highest in position in the Republican party, that there 
should be no more Dred Scott decisions — a direct and infa- 



500 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

mous threat to override and nullify the decisions of the 
Supreme Court of the United States. 

Following its cautious secret policy, and now having 
gathered into its fold all of the Whig party and a large part 
of the Republican, the Native American organization pre- 
pared its campaign for 1856. Opposition to aliens and to 
Roman Catholicism was its platform. * 'Americans must 
rule America, and to this end native born citizens should be 
selected for all State, Federal and municipal offices, or gov- 
ernment employment, in preference to all others; never- 
theless, 

*' Persons born of American parents, residing temporar- 
ily abroad, should be entitled to all the rights of native 
born citizens. * * * ^^ change in the laws of 
naturalization, making a continued residence of twenty-one 
years of all not hereinbefore provided for (those already 
citizens) an indispensible requisite for citizenship hereafter, 
and excluding all paupers and persons convicted of crime 
from landing upon our shores." 

No one could become a member unless American born, 
and not even then if he, or his wife, was a member of the 
Catholic Church. The members were obligated to obey the 
orders of the authorities of the organization ; never to be- 
tray its secrets, never to write any of them down, never to 
vote for any but American born citizens, and not for an 
American Catholic. He must respond promptly to the 
** imperative notice" and the sign or cry of the order. 

The summons to meetings of ordinary moment were 
white cards or papers, heart-shaped. Upon these the date 
of the meeting was printed, if the call was a sudden or un- 
expected one. These were scattered upon the streets, never 
sent to the members. If the heart-shaped papers were red 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 501 

the call was an extraordinary one, meaning actual trouble, 
and the members were to assemble fully armed. One of 
the instructions to the candidates was follows: " It has no 
doubt been long apparent to you, brothers, that foreign in- 
fluence and Roman Catholicism have been making steady 
and alarming progress in our country. You cannot have 
failed to observe the significant transition of the foreigner 
and Romanist from a character quiet, retiring and even ab- 
ject, to one bold, threatening, turbulent and despotic in its 
appearance and assumptions." 

The Grand Council of this order was held on the 22d day 
of February, 1856, and the next day its National Conven- 
tion was held. The only States not represented were 
Georgia, South Carolina, Maine and Vermont. Millard 
Fillmore was its nominee for President. The Whig Con- 
vention at Baltimore endorsed the nominations of the Amer- 
ican party and then adjourned. 



502 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER XVn. 

POLITICAL MEASURES — DEBATES OF DOUGLAS AND LINCOLN. 



A CAST-OFF TITLE ASSUMED. A MONGREL COLLECTION. A LEAGUE 

AGAINST DEMOCRACY. JONN C. FREMONT NOMINATED FOR 

PRESIDENT. A PATH-FINDER BY PROXY. A WONDERFUL DEVEL- 
OPMENT. THE WHIG PARTY DISAPPEARS. JONAIl'S GOURD. 

INAUGURATION OF BUCHANAN. A CONSCIENTIOUS OFFICER. 

THE NATIVE AMERICANS DISAPPEAR. A PARTY WITHOUT A PRIN- 
CIPLE. THE JOINT CANVASS OF DOUGLAS AND LINCOLN. 



DEMOCRATIC BICKERINGS. ANUNEQUAL CONTEST. AN UNTER- 

RIFIED DEMOCRAT. THE MOB DEFIED. TACTICS OF THE RE- 
PUBLICANS. KANSAS' DOUBLE CONSTITUTION. A FALSE STATE- 
MENT. THELECOMPTON CONSTITUTION ADOPTED. THE DOCU- 
MENT FORWARDED. VOTING AT THE ELECTION. BILL ADMIT- 
TING KANSAS. DOUGLAS' AMENDMENT. STILL A TERRITORY. 

REQUIREMENTS REJECTED. 

The Abolition party which had now assumed the cast off 
title of the Democrats, (Republican) met on the 18th day 
of June, 1856, at Philadelphia. This was the most mongrel 
collection that ever placed a candidate in nomination. AVhig, 
Free-soil Democrat, Independent Democrat, Native, Abo- 
litionist, Slavery Restrictor, Liberty Whig, and Old-time 
Federalist, all entered into the league of hatred against the 
Union, the Constitution and their unswerving champion, the 
Democracy. 

The candidate they placed in nomination was a fit one for 
this motley crew. It was John C. Fremont, who has since 
been aptly and uniquely described as a Southern man with 
Northern feelings, a General who never won a battle, a 
statesman without a policy, a millionaire without a dollar, 
and an ultra aristocrat while a radical Republican. At that 
time he had gained some notoriety by marrying, against her 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 503 

parent's wishes, Jessie Benton, daughter of Missouri's great 
Senator. 

He had made several overland expeditions to the Pacific 
coast, aided by Fitzpatrick, Kit Carson and others of the 
old trappers and plainsmen, and was glorying in the title of 
*' The Pathfinder" — this man of contradictions, who never 
found a path in his life. With this leader of straw these 
incongruous elements developed a wonderful strength, and 
showed in the Electoral College the surprising total of 114 
votes, while Fillmore got but 8. Buchanan, the Democratic 
candidate, had 174 electoral votes. The popular vote was: 
Buchanan, 1,838,169; Fremont, 1,341,264; Fillmore, 
874,534. 

After this election the Whig party completely disappeared, 
its members and ideas going over to and re-inforcing the 
Republicans. Those of the party, but few in number, who 
were not averse to slavery, affiliated with the Democracy. 
The Federal party had become the National Republican 
party, the National Republican had become the Whig, and 
Whig now made a large part of the (Black) Republican or 
Abolition organization, furnishing to the latter the brains, 
ideas and experience of its very varied existence, and assum- 
ing the Republican fanaticism and the single principle of 
their organization, the idea of slavery abolition. 

The Native American party now had five Senators and 
about twenty Representatives in the XXXVth Congress. 
In the next Presidential campaign, however, it entirely dis- 
appeared. Buchanan was inaugurated March 4, 1857, and 
made an honest, conscientious officer. Believing that the 
decision that Congress could neither legislate slavery into, 
nor exclude it from a territory, to be correct, he acted upon 
this conviction in his treatment of the Kansas question. 



504 LIFE AXD PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

The American idea cut but a small figure in the gigantic 
contest between the anti-slavery leaders and the despairing 
slave-holders. 

Douglas' '* squatter sovereignty," which was looked 
upon with distrust alike by the ultra party men, North and 
South, was really honest Democratic doctrine. That the 
majority should rule and the minority submit, was certainly 
not unusual language to Democratic ears, and its acceptance 
by both parties would have deprived the Republicans of all 
of their political capital, and left them then, as they are 
to-day, a party without an honest principle or a decent 
excuse to live. 

The joint-debate canvass of Douglass and Lincoln through 
Illinois in 1858 was eagerly watched by people of all shades 
of politics, for it was well known that it would be an expo- 
sition of the views of the Republicans and Northern Demo- 
crats, and it was almost an open secret that there would be 
either a split in the Democratic party in the next campaign 
or that a portion of it would go over to the Republican 
camp. In either case Democratic defeat was certain, and 
the attempted dissolution of the Union more than probable. 

In this debate Douglas was thoroughly honest, and ad- 
hered to his popular sovereignty doctrine through thick and 
thin. The conditions under which the two men debated — 
Douglas with everything to lose, Lincoln with everything 
to win — may be understood by an extract from one of the 
"Little Giant's" speeches at Freeport. Being interrupted 
frequently during his debate by the coarse expressions and 
howling of the Republican auditors, he said: *'I wish to 
remind you that while Mr. Lincoln was speaking there was 
not a Democrat vulgar and blackguard enough to interrupt 
him. But I know that the shoe is pinching you. I am 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 505 

clinching Lincoln now, and you are scared to death for the 
result. 

*'I have seen this thing before. I have seen men make 
appointments for discussions, and the moment their man 
has been heard, try to interrupt and prevent a fair hearing 
of the other side. I have seen your mobs before and defy 
your wrath." This shows the tactics adopted by the Re- 
publicans at that time and adhered to until this; mob law, 
noise, howling, military rule, sectional excitement and the 
bloody shirt, but never logical argument and calm judgment. 

With a Topeka (illegal) Governor and Constitution and 
a Lecomptou (legal) Constitution and a legally appointed 
Governor, of course, Buchanan sustained the latter. In the 
legal election there were 6,143 ballots cast for admitting 
slavery, against 539 against it. The allegations of the Free 
State men, that they did not have an equal show, are false, 
their sole disparity being either their want of courage, or 
their disinclination to recognize the lawful authority of 
Governor Walker, the Territorial executive appointed by 
Buchanan. 

The Lecompton Constitution was officially declared 
adopted, and an election for State officers, members of the 
Legislature and a member of Congress was ordered for the 
first Monday in January, 1858. By active colonization the 
Free State men now cast a vote of 10,226. The Free State 
ballots wereheaded *'Against the Lecompton Constitution," 
but that document had already been forwarded and submitted 
to Congress, and after a fierce debate in both Houses was ac- 
cepted, and under its provisions the bill for admitting Kan- 
sas was passed on the 4th day of May, 1858. 

This bill (by which the State was admitted) was known 
as the English bill, but it had an important amendment 



50 n LIFE* AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

attached to it by Mr. Douglas embodying his squatter 
sovereignty idea. The bill was approved by Buchanan, but 
as the State claimed a ceding of the public lands at least six 
times as great as had been granted to other States, Con- 
gress referred the matter back to the people of the State for 
vote on acceptance of a smaller quantity of land and cer- 
tain conditions as to its sale, and this being rejected by a 
large majority, the Territory of Kansas failed to become a 
State under the Lecompton Constitution. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 507 

SUPPLEMENT. 



CHAPTER I. 

POLITICAL MEASURES JOHN BROWN'S RAID. 



KANSAS BECOMES A FREE STATE. THE WYANDOTTE CONVENTION 

OP 1859. A FOOLISH FANATIC. JOHN BROWN'S RAID. 

CAPTURE OP HARPER'S FERRY. CITIZENS MURDERED IN THE 

STREETS. SURROUNDED AND CAPTURED. A TAME HERO. 

A PATRON SAINT. HALE'S DENIAL OF PARTICIPATION. THE 

RAID CONDEMNED IN THE NORTH. A DETESTABLE CRIME. 

FESSENDEN'S DENIAL OP COMPLICITY. DOOLITTLE'S CHAL- 
LENGE. KING EXPLAINS SEWARD'S SPEECH. PEACEFUL AND 

CONSTITUTIONAL MEANS. BROWN REGARDED AS A LUNATIC. 

A FRIENDLESS RUFFIAN. PRAISED BY POETS. HUNG FOR 

MURDER AND TREASON. SECTIONAL PASSION. A CONGLOM- 
ERATE PARTY. RESISTANCE TO AGGRESSION. THE MASSES 

EMBITTERED. AMBITIOUS LEADERS. THE CONFLICT OUT- 
LINED. 

It was not until the 29th of January, 1861, that Kansas 
became a State, and then it was with a Constitution prohib- 
iting slavery; which Constitution had been proposed in a 
convention held at Wyandotte, in July, 1859. When mat- 
ters had assumed a more peaceful aspect in Kansas, a miser- 
able anti-slavery fanatic, mad with a thirst for that notoriety 
which vulgar minds mistake for fame, fully believing the 
silly stories of Mrs. Stowe and others, and thinking the 
slaves eager for an opportunity for insurrection, made a raid 
upon Virginia. 

John Brown, or as he was popularly known in Kansas — on 
account of some murders committed there — Ossawottomie 
Brown seized the United States arsenal and armory at Har- 
per's Ferry, and firing upon the citizens murdered several of 
them. Not having sufficieit courage to die like a hero, he 
basely surrendered when ha found the U. S. marines were 



508 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

about to storm the building in which he had taken refuge. 
Like a craven he preferred the felon's death by the halter 
to the hero's by the bullet, and he got it. 

In view of the fact that the Republican party has since 
then adopted as its patron saint this red-handed murderer 
and incitor of arson, pillage, outrage and assassination, it 
may be well to see what its leaders had to say of him at that 
time. 

Hale, of New Hampshire, denied that the Republican 
party sought to tamper with slaves. Wilson, of Massachu- 
setts, said the news of the outrage was received in the North 
with unanimous disapprobation and regret. Everywhere in 
the North he had heard it condemned. 

Mr. Simmons, of Rhode Island, denied that any general 
sympathy had been excited in the North for Brown or his 
movements. In his crime there was not one redeeming 
quality to save it from utter detestation. Fessenden, of 
Maine, said it was insulting to charge Republicans with 
complicity in such a crime. Chandler^ of Michigan, wanted 
all traitors to take warning by Brown's execution. Doolittle, 
of Wisconsin, challenged the Senate to find one Republican 
paper throughout the Northwest whic\i justified or sympa- 
thized with Brown's act. 

King, of New York, in explaining the speech of his col- 
league (Seward), in which he alluded to free labor invading 
the South, said he knew him to mean that only by peaceful 
and constitutional means would he effect the overthrow of 
slavery. Wade, of Ohio, regarded Brown as a lunatic, and 
thus, when brought face to face with the responsibility of 
acknowledging whether they supported or sympathized with 
Brown, one and all denied any knowledge, participation, fel- 
lowship or sympathy with the crazy ruffian. It was only 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 509 

after time had ia some measure condoned the awful infamy 
of his intent, and partisan passion had smothered all hu- 
man sympathy with those in rebellion, that Brown's praises 
were chanted by Republican poets and his acts applauded by 
Republican politicians. 

What help or counsel Brown may have had at the time, 
will never be known. If any, incited by politicians, as some 
supposed, he held his peace and they trembling at the men- 
ace of their treason made no sign, but gave a sigh of relief 
when the hangman's rope had done its work upon Brown. 
It is true that great efforts were made to save these traitors 
from the scaffold and the magnanimity of Virginia was ap- 
pealed to to spare them, though upon what grounds, save 
those of silly sentimentality, we have never been able to 
learn. Why a mad dog or a wolf should meet with mercy 
no sane person can conceive, and either of these animals, af- 
flicted with the most violent rabies, would have been an 
amiable companion for a slave-holder compared with the 
fanatic. Brown. Not the slightest reason existed why he 
and his comrades should not be promptly hung for the mur- 
ders they had committed at Harper's Ferry, if not for 
treason. 

Fearing that sectional passion might cause the disso- 
lution of the Union so long threatened, patriotic men of all 
parties endeavored to calm the rising storm that bade fair 
to shatter the ship of state. Numbers of discontented 
Democrats, charmed by the idea of the abolition of slavery, 
but detesting the aristocratic fallacies of the Republicans, 
determined upon a Northern Democracy, which should retain 
the principles of their old party and adopt abolition. The 
Southern Democracy, fearful of intended wrongs, became 
now a unit upon the question of resistance to any further 
aggressions from the Anti-slavery party. 



510 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

111 this condition of affairs northern and southern leaders 
took advantage of the hopes and fears of the masses to em- 
bitter them against each other and to produce an antagonism 
that should bring about peaceable secession or civil war. As 
to who was most to blame for the bloody and bitter conflict 
that afterward ensued we shall not here attempt to show, 
but will merely give, as briefly as possible, an account of 
the events that led to it. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 511 



CHAPTER n. 

POLITICAL MEASURES ABOLITION AND SECESSION. 



THE CHARLESTON CONVENTION. THE TWO-THIRDS RULE. THE 

TERRITORIAL SLAVERY QUESTION. THE COMMITTEE ON RESOLU- 
TIONS. THE TWO REPORTS. UNABLE TO HARMONIZE. THE 

MAJORITY REPORT. ADROIT POLITICAL JUGGLERY. THE UNIT 

RULE. THE MINORITY REPORT ADOPTED. WITHDRAWAL OF 

SEVEN STATES. AN EFFORT FOR PEACE. GEORGIA WITH- 
DRAWS. VIRGINIA, KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE. DEFEAT OF 

HOWARD'S RESOLUTION. THE DOUGLAS MEN IN FAULT. THE 

TWO-THIRDS RULE TRIUMPHS. AN ADJOURNMENT MOVED. 

THE CONVENTION REASSEMBLES. TYRANNY AND OPPRESSION. 

WITHDRAWAL OF OTHER STATES. MR. GUSHING RESIGNS THE 

CHAIRMANSHIP. BEN BUTLER'S ANNOUNCEMENT. CALLING 

THE ROLL OF THE STATES. ACTION OF BUTLER. CARRIES HIS 

POINT. LEAVES THE CONVENTION. DOUGLAS NOMINATED. 

THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. THE MAJORITY RE- 
PORT ADOPTED. JOHN C. BRECKENRIDGE NOMINATED. A RE- 
PUBLICAN VICTORY ENSURED. 

The Democratic National Convention met at Charleston, 
South Carolina, April 23d, 1860. Thirty-three States and 
three hundred and three votes were represented. Caleb 
Cashing was Chairman and the two-thirds rule was adopted, 
or rather continued, as in all other Democratic conventions. 
From the very start a wide difference of opinion between the 
bulk of the southern and northern members prevailed, the 
former insisting that slaves were property and could be held 
as such in any of the Territories, while the latter adhered 
to Douglas' Squatter Sovereignty doctrine. 

By a unanimous vote the delegates declared that no nom- 
inations should be made until a platform had been adopted. 
Not until the fifth day did the committee, composed of one 



512 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

member from each State, conclude its labors and then a ma- 
jority and minority re^iort were presented. These reports 
were warmly discussed and finally returned to the Commit- 
tee on Resolutions to see if the two reports could not be 
harmonized. A favorable action could not be had and on 
the sixth day the two reports were again presented. Slavery 
in the Territories was the rock upon which they split. The 
slavery report was favored by all of the southern delegates 
in the committee and also by the members from Oregon and 
California. 

The majority report recited that the Territorial Govern- 
ments being temporary and provisional, all property of 
settlers in them should be protected, and that until the Ter- 
ritory became a State it was the duty of the Government to 
protect all property held by settlers ; that the right of sov- 
ereignty did not begin until the Territory became a State, 
when it had a right to admission whether its Constitution 
admitted or prohibited slavery. 

By adroit juggling the States of New Jersey and Pennsyl- 
vania voting their delegates as individuals, while the others 
voted under the unit rule — the majority casting the entire 
vote of the State — the minority report received a majority. 
Under this state of affairs Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, 
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas refused to vote 
on the second resolution of the minority report, and on the 
30th of April Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mis- 
sissippi, South Carolina and Texas withdrew from the con- 
vention. 

Mr. Russell, Chairman of the Virginia delegation, now 
endeavored to restore harmony, and to give all time to think 
over a reconciliation and to calm their excitement, proposed 
an adjournment until the next day. This was agreed to. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 513 

but when the convention met May 1st, the Georgia delega- 
tion, considering that the adoption of the minority report 
was apiece of trickery, withdrew. Virginia, Kentucky and 
Tennessee were the only Southern States remaining and 
their delegates set to work to make a compromise that 
would again unite the party. This resolution the friends of 
Mr. Douglass never permitted to come to a vote, and thus 
was the Democratic party disrupted and secession insured. 

Mr. Howard of Tennessee, after failing to get his com- 
promise resolution before the convention — when with the 
assured aid of the New York delegation it could have been 
passed — was able to secure a vote of 141 to 112, reaffirming 
the necessity of a two-thirds majority for a nomination, and 
thus were the friends of Mr. Douglas for a time defeated. 
For three days the balloting continued, but of the 202 
votes necessary to a nomination Douglas failed to secure at 
any time more than 152^. Seeing that a nomination was 
impossible, Mr. Russell, of Virginia, moved an adjournment 
to Baltimore, the date to be the 18th of June, 1860. 

In the resolution the Democratic party of all the States 
was requested to send delegations, or rather to '*make pro- 
visions for supplying all vacancies in their respective delega- 
tions." On the date set the convention re-assembled, with 
Mr. Gushing in the Ghair. Immediately after organizing, 
Mr. Howard of Tennessee made a motion *'that the Pres- 
ident of this convention direct the Sergeant-at-arms to issue 
tickets of admission to the delegates of the convention, as 
originally constituted and organized at Charleston." 

This was bitterly opposed by the Douglas delegates, they 
having had new elections in some of the States which had 
withdrawn at Charleston, and from which new delegates rep- 
resenting meager minorities, but iristyucted for Douglas, 



514 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

now appeared. The Douglas majority, created by the with- 
drawal of the eight Southern States mentioned, was used in 
a tyrannical and oppressive manner, and in consequence the 
withdrawal of almost the entire delegates of Virginia, North 
Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, California, Ore- 
gon and Arkansas, was brought about. It was now half past 
ten A. M. and the convention adjourned until ten the next 
morning. 

When the convention assembled the next day, Mr. Cush- 
ing resigned its Presidency to take a position amongst his 
delectation on the floor. Tod of Ohio now took the 
Chair, when Ben. Butler announced that a part of the dele- 
gation from his State (Massachusetts) wished to retire. 
Vehement cries of *'no" and **call the rolP* interrupted him. 
Mr. Tod asked the Secretary to call the roll of the States. 
To this call Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont turned in 
a solid vote for Douglas. 

Massachusetts was next called. At this point Mr. Butler 
arose and said he had a paper which he desired to have 
read. He was at once assailed with interruptions of **I 
object," etc., but he quoted precedents in support of his po- 
sition and was permitted to proceed. Stating that a major- 
ity of the States had already withdrawn, he said that he 
would no longer sit in the convention, and accompanied by 
Mr. Gushing and four others of the Massachusetts delegates 
he left the hall. The balloting was continued by this skele- 
ton convention and Mr. Douglas finally nominated. Mr. 
Fitzpatrick of Alabama was nominated for Vice-President, 
but declined it, and Mr. H. V. Johnson of Georgia was 
named for the position by the Executive Committee — the 
convention having adjourned si7ie die immediately after 
Fitzpatrick' s nomination. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 515 

The two-thirds rule had necessarily been set aside in this 
convention, and the same action was had in the National 
Democratic Convention which met at Baltimore on the 23d 
of June (1860) and which nominated John C. Breckenridge 
and General Joseph Lane. Mr. Gushing was President of 
this convention. The majority report of the Charleston 
Convention was unanimously adopted, and after the with- 
drawal of several proposed names Breckenridge was nomi- 
nated unanimously. 

Thus occurred the split in the Democratic party which 
ensured the election of Abraham Lincoln, which brought 
about the secession of the Slave States and the great civil 
war. Whether this could have been much longer postponed, 
even had the Democracy remained united, is a question that 
can never be solved, but it is most likely that the conflict 
was, as HeljDer pronounced it, an irrepressible one and pre- 
destined to occur upon the acquisition of power by the 
Republicans. 



516 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER m. 

POLITICAL MEASURES — ^AVAR AND RECONSTRUCTION. 



THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION OF 1860. BICKERING FACTIONS. 

A NEW BECRUIT SELECTED. THE CONSTITUTIONAL UNION CON- 
VENTION. A FORLORNE HOPE. REPUBLICAN SUCCESS. 

ELEVEN STATES SECEDE. BUCHANAN'S BELIEFS. SENTIMENTS 

OF HORACE GREELEY. THE DUTY OF CONGRESS. REPUBLICAN 

OBSTINACY. THE CRITTENDEN COMPROMISE. ABOLITION OR 

SECESSION. COURSE OF THE BORDER STATES. SOUTHERN 

CONSERVATIVES. REPUBLICAN ENMITY. INSULT AND INJURY. 

EXTREME PARTISANS. WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN EFFECTED. 

ACCUSATIONS AGAINST FLOYD. THE EMANCIPATION PROCLA- 
MATION. A PARTY WITHOUT A PRINCIPLE. STATE RECON- 
STRUCTION. JUDGE UNDERWOOD'S OPINION. JOHNSON'S VIEW 

OF RECONSTRUCTION. REMOVAL OF STANTON. THE IMPEACH- 
MENT TRIAL. THE CONTEST OF 1864. GRANT'S ELECTION. 

SHAMELESS CORRUPTION. THE LEGAL TENDER DECISION. 

GROUND FOR GREENBACKERS. COMPLEXION OF THE PARTY. 

THE PROHIBITIONISTS. A MISERABLE FAILURE. 

The Republican Convention met at Chicago, May 16th, 
1860. The vote for Fremont had greatly elated them and 
they saw in the bickerings of the two factions of the Democ- 
racy almost a guaranty of their success at the next election. 
They saw that the strength of the Democracy would be 
frittered away in domestic strife, and the American party 
they did not fear. In this convention Seward, Chase, Came- 
ron, Weed, Wilmot and other prominent men of the Repub- 
lican party were set aside and Lincoln, a comparatively new 
recruit, nominated. 

The American or Constitutional Union party, as it was 
now called, assembled in convention at Baltimore, May 
9th, 1860, and the result was the nomination of Bell and 
Everett. This ticket was probably put up in the forlorn 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 517 

hope of a complication in the Electoral College and a com- 
promise in the House. This party no longer maintained 
its secret organization, but it adhered to its views in regard 
to foreign emigration and suffrage. With the two Demo- 
cratic tickets and the one put forth by the Republicans, 
this made the fourth party in the field. 

The result of the election was the success of the Repub- 
lican ticket and the withdrawal, in the autumn and winter 
of 1860-61, of South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Flor- 
ida, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, North Carolina, 
'Tennessee and Virginia. A history of the secession move- 
ment would necessarily include a history of the civil war, 
und this we do not contemplate. 

Believing in the sovereignty of the States, or at least 
iloubting the authority of the general government to coerce 
them, and noticing that the sentiments of Horace Greeley 
and other leading Abolitionists were to permit the peaceable 
secession of the States, he left to Congress, where he be- 
lieved the authority invested, to apply the remedy for this 
dissolution of the bond between the States. To go into the 
question of States rights, and the extent of the authority of 
the government in coercing seceding members of the Union 
is one which would require larger limits than we can allow 
to it. 

In order to show the determination of the Republicans to 
prevent a peaceable solution of the difficulties, which by their 
threats and the actions of their fanatical emissaries they had 
been mainly instrumental in bringing about, it is only neces- 
sary to say that they voted en masse against the consider- 
ation of the Crittenden compromise and also voted solidly 
against giving the people of the country a voice in the mat- 
ter by having it determined at the polls. They were deter- 



518 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

mined to rule or ruin, and they intended to carry out their 
threats that either abolition must prevail or the Union be 
dissolved. 

Every Eastern State placed itself on record against this 
effort at conciliation — a rather singular proceeding for con- 
stituencies that had so often threatened to have recourse to 
the measure of secession themselves. The Border States 
were earnest advocates of pacification and made many and 
earnest efforts to soothe the asperity of the sectional strife, 
and it is a great pity that they could not have been spared 
all participation in the conflict that followed, and let those 
on each side, who forced on the collision, fight it out. 

There were larsfe numbers of conservative men in the 
South, who at first neither favored secession nor desired a 
conflict with the government, but their leaders succeeded in 
convincing them, through the action of the Radical Repub- 
licans in defeating all efforts at a compromise, that they had 
no security in the Union against insult and spoliation, and 
thus prepared them for war. That some of the extreme 
Southern leaders desired a separate confederacy cannot be 
truly denied, but they had always been chary of exhibiting 
this desire to the masses of the slave-holding States. Had 
the people been prepared for such views, as many writers 
have falsely asserted, these leaders while in control of the 
government could easily have placed their section in such a 
state of equipment by distribution of arms and by phicing 
their creatures in command of the regular forces as to 
have insured success. 

Floyd has been accused of having placed in southern ar- 
senals all of the small arms belonging to the United States, 
but on examination we find that out of 541,565 muskets and 
rifles he had delivered to some of the Southern States and 



CLEVELAND AND HENDEICKS. 519 

to Kansas their militia quotas amounting to 115,000 mus- 
kets, about one-fifth of the entire number. This we allude 
to since it has often been claimed that the Democratic 
officials armed the South for secession. The progress and 
results of the civil war we shall not have space for consider- 
ing further than to state that by the Emancipation Procla- 
mation of January 1st, 1863, the Republican party accom- 
plished the single idea, aim and end, of its organization and 
thenceforth was without a principle. 

State reconstruction from the ''military districts" into 
which they had been thrown by the Eepublican party is a 
subject requiring too great space to be treated here. A 
singular feature of this declaration that the seceded States 
had become conquered provinces was the fact that Jefferson 
Davis, although captured and held for years a prisoner, was 
never tried for the crime of treason. This was because the 
Republican leaders knew he could never be convicted, and 
Judge Underwood, a thorough Republican, expressly stated 
to a Congressional Committee that the only means of con- 
victing him would be by "packing a jury." 

Johnson, who had succeeded to the Presidency upon the 
assassination of Lincoln, took the view that the States 
should at once be admitted to full fellowship. Horace 
Greely was in favor of complete amnesty to those lately in 
rebellion. Johnson's impeachment and the failure of his 
enemies to oust him from his office has been shown else- 
where. His removal of Stanton who was a pig-headed and 
impudent tyrant and a fellow capable of any baseness was 
certainly justifiable under the circumstances, and much 
honor is due to those Republican Senators who were too 
honest to be led by party Dassioii into the grave error of 
voting for impeachment. 



520 LIFE AKD PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

The Presidential contest of 1864 is hardly worthy of 
mention. Repeating by moving train loads of soldiers from 
point to point, terrorism and disfranchisement made a 
Democratic canvass a mere farce. In 1868 similar tactics 
on the part of the administration were followed, and Grant 
and Colfax were elected by a very large majority, and now 
began a more shameless course of tyranny and corruption 
than had ever before been seen. So shamelesss and enorm- 
ous did the party thievery and infamy become that many 
of its best and ablest men either retired to private life or 
joined the organization known as Liberal Republicans. 

Rome in its most corrupt age never witnessed such 
degeneracy as did the American Republic at this time. 
Congressmen were bought and sold like sheep, and lobby- 
ists, male and female, carried memorandum books in which 
the prices of American Senators and Representatives were 
noted down in plain figures. Naval rings, Indian rings, 
improvement rings, whisky rings, and Credit Mobiliers were 
fostered in its National Capital, and bribery became as 
common and unchecked as the ordinary operations of any 
legitimate traffic. 

The Legal Tender Decision of 1870 proved that Chase 
was not the only poor lawyer that had, for partisan pur- 
poses, been foisted onto the Supreme Bench. Without this 
decision the Greenback party would have had no ground to 
build upon, and this thorn in the side of the Republicans 
would have been avoided. Made up of discontented men of 
both the opposing parties it had, from 1873 to 1880, quite a 
respectable following in a few of the States, but the distress 
succeeding the panic of 1873 having abated, it is practically 
dead. In Republican States they were generally disap- 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 521 

pointed Kepublicans, and in Democratic States they gen- 
erally proved disguised Republicans. 

In 1872 the Prohibitionists had set up still another party. 
The new "Richmond in the field" was constituted of 
fanatics who, having made up their minds that it was too 
expensive to use stimulants themselves, at once determined 
that no one else should do so. The German beino^ wedded 
to his beer, the Irishman to his potteen, the Westerner 
to his Bourbon and the Eastern man to his rye, this party 
was left without followers and scored only 5,608 popular 
votes out of a total of 6,466,lfi5. Retiring from the 
political field they consoled themselves with strong pota- 
tions of root-beer, soda pop and ginger tea. 



522 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER IV. 

POLITICAL MEASURES — THEFT OF THE PRESIDENCY. 



A SUBJECT OF WONDER. NOMINATION OF TILDEN. HAYES THE 

REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE. RISING OF THE PEOPLE. ROGUES' 

REASONS. A PATRIOTIC MAN. A CROWNING INFAMY. 

HAYES' ADMINISTRATION. GRANT'S BAYONET RULE. THE IN- 

FVMOUS EIGHT. CATCHING A TARTER. HAYES' FOLLOWING. 

ACHANGE OF BASE. LONGING FORGRANTISM. THE THIRD 

TERM HERESY. GARFIELD SECURES THE NOMINATION. GEN- 
ERAL W. S. HANCOCK. THE REPUBLICAN MAJORITY. AN ELEC- 
TORAL SERMON. THE CORRUPTION FUND FOR INDIANA. 



STAR-ROUTE THIEVERY. ASSASSINATION OF GARFIELD. GUI- 

TEAU THE STALWART. GREATER THAN JOHN BROWN. 

ARTHUR INAUGURATED. A FOP AND A BON VIDANT. HIS 

PROSECUTIONS A FAILURE. GENERALS AND HONORABLES. 

THE REPUBLIC STILL SAFE. HER COURSE THROUGH THE CEN- 
TURIES. 

After Grant it became a subject of wonder what the Re- 
publican party could do more infamous, unconstitutional or 
unpatriotic than it had already done. The answer was to 
come sooner than the people thought. In 1876 the Democ- 
racy placed in nomination the sage, patriot and statesman, 
Samuel J. Tilden of New York, while the Republicans fol- 
lowing their accepted dark horse policy named Rutherford 
B. Hayes a comparatively unknown Ohio politician and a 
man of very small caliber. 

The people, tired of radical misrule, rose in their might 
and Tilden was elected by a popular majority of nearly 
300,000. He also gained a majority of the electoral vote, 
but as his inauguration would have resulted in the unearth- 
ing of sufficient frauds to send two-thirds of the Republi- 
can leaders to prison, they determined to place their crea- 
ture in power even should the result be civil war. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 523 



The most dangerous crisis of the Republic was now at 
hand, but Tilden, patriotic and magnanimous, suffered 
wrong and injustice rather than deluge his country with the 
blood of its citizens and the liberties of the people were 
subverted in the inauguration of R. B. Hayes. This is the 
blackest crime in the history of the Republic, the fraud of 
frauds and the crowning infamy of the Radical party. For 
partisan purposes it had overridden the will of the people 
and traitorously used the machinery of the government for 
its own overthrow. 

But one good thing can be said of the administration of 
Hayes, and that is that he did not use the military to inter- 
fere in State elections or government. He inaugurated the 
policy of Federal non-interference and the carpet-bag gov- 
ernments that Grant had tyrannically upheld by the bayo- 
nets of the United States army, soon fell to pieces and the 
States were relieved of thse incubi and succubi that were 
draining the life blood of the people. As one poison is of- 
ten used to counteract another, so the fraudulent seating of 
Hayes proved an antidote to some of Grant's tyrannies. 

The infamous eight of the Electoral Commission found 
that when Hayes was firmly seated in the Presidential Chair 
his naturally kindly heart and desire to calm all sectional 
agitation, coupled with a sufficient degree of firmness to 
carry out his own will, had placed them in the position of 
the Irishman who caught a tartar. Their partisan infamy 
had produced instead of another Grant, desirous of main- 
taining an iron military rule in the South, a civil lawyer, 
who determined to appeal to more constitutional and hu- 
mane measures. 

The better class of the Republicans followed Hayes in 
this matter, while the more violent demagogues opposed 



524 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

him with the bitterest hostility. This was in a measure 
abated when Hayes, toward the close of his administration, 
beo^an to fall somewhat into the Grant methods. This was 
no doubt intended to bring over the extreme Radicals to his 
support, but he failed of his object, and when he left the 
Presidential Chair, he had earned the contempt of almost 
every party. He was a man of petty capacity, and filled 
the office in a small, mean way, but not so badly as he 
might have done. 

Conkling, Cameron, Logan, and others of their views, 
longing for a renewal of the evils which cursed the coun- 
try under Grant, determined to violate the precedent estab- 
lished by Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe — the 
fathers of the Republic — and again place Grant in the Presi- 
dential Chair. This third term heresy found sufficient op- 
ponents amongst patriotic Republicans to defeat it, and thus 
another political infamy by this party was prevented. 
Sherman and Blaine thinking that there were, even in the 
Republican party, other men capable of filling the Presi- 
dency, united to defeat Grant, and easily did so. 

James A. Garfield secured the nomination by this coali- 
tion, and Grantism was again rebuked. This was a healthy 
indication that the people were not yet ready for innovations 
of the third term sort, and were determined to preserve 
the traditions of the founders of the Republic. 

Opposed to Garfield, the Democracy presented Gen. W. 
S. Hancock as its candidate. This was felt by many, if not 
most of the masses, to be a mistake, as it was due to Til- 
den to allow them a chance to rectify the great wrong which 
had been done him in 1876. The result of the election of 
1880, was a Republican majority of 915 in the popular vote 
and of 59 in the electoral vote. The votes stood- 



CLEVELAND AND HENDEICKS. 525 

Garfield — Popular vote, 4,442,950; electoral vote, 214. 
Hancock — Popular vote, 4,442,035; electoral vote, 155. 

Could a stronger sermon be preached against the present 
electoral system than this showing of 915 votes equalling 
an electoral vote of 59 ? 

Garfield had been elected to the United States Senate, 
but resigned, and John Sherman was elected as his suc- 
cessor. In order to carry Indiana, an immense amount of 
money had been expended in bribery, by the Republican 
leaders, Dorsey, the star-route thief, and others, being the 
distributors of the fund collected for this purpose. The 
star-route swindles were a legacy of the Hayes regime, that 
steal having its inception during his administration. 

Garfield lived but six months after his inauguration, that 
ceremony taking place on March 4th, 1881, and his death 
occurring September 19th, 1881. He was the second of the 
American Presidents who fell by the hand of an assassin. 
The creature who fired the fatal shot from which Garfield 
died described himself truly as **a stalwart of the stal- 
warts." He was one of those unbalanced minds — of whom 
this party has produced so many — who could not distinguish 
between notoriety and fame, and had recklessly imbibed the 
party teaching that everything done by the party was 
right. 

If, he reasoned, John Brown (who with an armed mob 
entered Harper's Ferry and brutally fired upon and mur- 
dered its citizens in the street) was a hero, the man who 
removes an obnoxious member of the party must be a 
grander one, and thus reasoning he put into effect their 
higher law doctrines that justify murder, theft and other 
crimes with the cant that * 'the end sanctifies the means," 
and slew the President that a stalwart might succeed him. 



526 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

For the fourth time in American politics the Vice-Presi- 
dent succeeded to the Presidency when Chester Allan 
Arthur was inaugurated September 20th, 1881. Arthur has 
proved the least American of all of our Presidents. A fop 
and a hon vivant his tastes have led more to the desiofning: 
of effective clothing than the modelling of policies. He has 
made a fairish sort of officer, and while his reform measures 
have been neither well planned nor effectively carried out, 
yet he has at least made a show of purifying the moral at- 
mosphere of his administration. 

His star-route prosecutions — which may have been hon- 
estly designed — proved but a farce, the prey escaping with 
facility from the meshes of the law. Had Garfield lived, 
there is every reason to believe that numerous convictions 
would have resulted, and many Generals and Honorables 
might now have been serving terms in our penitentiaries. 
Whether that justice would have recompensed us for the 
difficulties with foreign nations into which his **brilliant 
Secretary of State, James G. Blaine, would have plunged 
us is a question to be considered. 

Thus in a condensed form we have given an account of 
the principal men and measures of American politics, from 
the inception of the resistance to England's tyrannical op- 
pressions down to the present time. The record, while it 
is frequently smirched with stains and tarnished by the 
enormities of those who have been temporarily stood in 
power, is still not one to cause us to despair of the Repub- 
lic. From each of her battles and tempests the brave ship 
of state has emerged with flying colors, and the historian 
of a hundred centuries hence may be able to write of her 
broad enduring pennant, as the poet has sung of the English 
ensign : 



CLEVELAND AND HENDEICKS. 527 

*'Thatfor a thousand years has braved the battle and the storm." 

God grant that, purified from the pollution of Republican 
rule and injustice, with swelling sails and her starry banner 
floating free, she may sail on and on into the centuries, 
adown the sea of time, the foe of tyranny and oppression, 
and the refuge of earth's distressed and miserable. 



528 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER V. 

THE PLATFORM ADOPTED. 



NO SPECIOUS VOTE BEGGING. NO SLURRING OF LIVING ISSUES.- 

EVERY PLANK PURE GOLD. EVERY ONE CAN STAND ON IT.- 



THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE. REPUBLICAN RECORD. PARTY 

PLEDGES. TARIFF REFORM. TRADE EXTENSION. HONEST 

MONEY. EQUAL RIGHTS. A FREE BALLOT. TERRITORIAL 

OFFICERS. SUMPTUARY LAWS. CHURCH AND STATE. PROP- 
ERTY RIGHTS. THE LABOR INTEREST. PUBLIC LANDS. 

PAUPER LABOR. PROTECTION OF CITIZENS. RIVER IMPROVE- 
MENT. THE AMERICAN MARINE. AMERICAN POLICY. A 

TRIBUTE TO TILDEN. 

The following is the platform of the Democracy in coun- 
cil assembled, at Chicago, in 1884. Unlike that of the 
Republican party, there is no specious bidding for irrespon- 
sible votes ; no miserable slurring over the most important 
issues of the day ; no use of high sounding words to conceal 
a want of honesty or a paucity of ideas. Every plank is 
pure gold, and as the Democratic party is the party of the 
people, as opposed to that of the monopolists, so the Dem- 
ocratic platform is one on which the whole people of the 
country may stand secure in the enjoyment of every honest 
and honorable right. It needs neither comment nor eulogy ; 
it is the voice of the people and will be understood and ap- 
l^reciated by them : 

**Thc Democratic party of the Union, through its repre- 
sentatives in National Convention assembled, recognizes 
that, as the nation grows older, new issues are born of time 
and progress and the old issues perish. But the funda- 
mental principles of the Democracy, approved by the voice 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 529 

of the people, remain, and will ever remain, as the best and 
only security for the continuance of free government. The 
preservation of personal rights, the equality of all citizens 
before the law, the reserved rights of the States and the 
supremacy of the Federal Government within the limits 
of the Constitution will ever form the true basis of our lib- 
erties and can never be surrendered without destroying that 
balance of rights and powers which enables a continent to 
be developed in peace, and social order to be maintained by 
means of local self-government. But it is indispensable 
for the practical application and enforcement of these fun- 
damental principles that the government should not always 
be controlled by one political party. Frequent change of 
administration is as necessary as constant recurrence to the 
popular will; otherwise abuses grow, and the government, 
instead of being carried on for the general welfare, becomes 
an instrumentality for imposing heavy burdens on the many 
who are governed, for the benefit of the few who govern. 
Public servants thus become arbitrary rulers. This is 
now the condition of the country, hence a change is de- 
manded. 

The Republican party, so far as principle is concerned, is 
a reminiscence; in practice it is an organization for enrich- 
ing those who control its machinery. The frauds of job- 
bing which have been brought to light in every department 
of the government are sufficient to have called for reform 
within the Republican party. Yet those in authority, made 
reckless by the long possession of power, have succumbed 
to its corrupting influence, and have placed in nomination 
a ticket against which the independent portion of the party 
are in open revolt. Therefore a change is demanded. 
Such a change was alike necessary in 1876, but the will of 



530 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

the people was then defeated by a fraud which can never be 
forgotten or condoned. 

Again, in 1880 the change demanded by the people was 
defeated by the lavish use of money contributed by unscru- 
pulous contractors and shameless jobbers, who had bar- 
gained for unlawful profits or for high offices. 

RECORD OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 

The Republican party during its legal, its stolen and its 
bought tenures of power, has steadily decayed in moral 
character and political capacity. Its platform promises are 
now a list of its past failures. It demands the restoration 
of our navy ; it has squandered hundreds of millions to 
create a navy that does not exist. It calls on Congress to 
remove the burdens under which American shipping has been 
depressed. It imposed and has continued those burdens. 
It professes the policy of reserving the public lands for 
small holders by actual settlers; it has given away the peo- 
ples' heritage till now a few railroads and non-resident 
aliens, individual and corporate, posses a larger area than 
that of all our farms between the two seas. It professes a 
preference for free institutions; it organized and tried to 
legalize a control of State elections by Federal troops. It 
professes a desire to elevate labor ; it has subjected Ameri- 
can workingmen to the competition of convict and contract 
labor. It professes gratitude to all who were disabled or 
died in war leaving widows and orphans; it left to a Demo- 
cratic House of Representatives the first effort to equalize 
both bounties and pensions. It proffers a pledge to correct 
the irregularities of our tariff ; it created and has continued 
them ; its own tariff commission confessed the need of 
more than 20 per cent reduction, its Congress gave a re- 
duction of less than 4 per cent. It professes the protection 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 531 

of American manufacturers; it has subjected them to an 
increasing flood of manufactured goods and a hopeless com- 
petition with manufacturing nations, not one of which taxes 
raw materials. It professes to protect all American indus- 
tries; it has impoverished many to subsidize a few. It 
professes the protection of American labor; it has depleted 
the returns of American agriculture, an industry followed 
by half our people. It professes the equality of all men 

before the law; in attempting to fix the status of colored 
citizens, the acts of its Congress were overset by the decision 
of its courts. It ''accepts anew the duty of leading in the 
work of progress and reform;" its caught criminals are 
permitted to escape through contrived delays or actual 
connivance in the prosecution. Honey-combed with cor- 
ruption, out breaking exposure no longer shocks its moral 
sense. Its honest members, its independent journals, no 
longer maintain a successful contest for authority in its 
counsels, or a veto upon bad nominations. That change is 
necessary is proved by an existing surplus of more than 
$100,000,000 which has yearly been collected from a suf- 
fering people. Unnecessary taxation is unjust taxation. 

We denounce the Republican party for having failed to 
relieve the people from crushing war taxes which have 
paralyzed business, crippled industry and deprived labor 
of employment and of just reward. 

PARTY PLEDGES. 

The Democracy pledges itself to purify the administra- 
tion from corruption, to restore economy, to revive respect 
for law and to reduce taxation to the lowest limit consistent 
with due regard to the preservation of the nation, to credi- 
tors and pensioners, knowing full well, however, that legis- 
lation affecting the occupations of the people should be 



532 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

cautious and conservative in method, not in advance of 
public opinion, but responsive to its demands. 

The Democratic party is pledged to revise the tariff in a 
spirit of fairness to all interests ; but in making a reduction 
in taxes it is not proposed to injure any domestic indus- 
tries, but rather to promote their healthy growth. From 
the foundation of this government taxes collected at the 
Custom House have been the chief source of Federal rev- 
enue. Such they must continue to be. Moreover, many- 
industries have come to rely upon legislation for successful 
continuance, so that any change of law must be at every 
step regardful of the labor and capital thus involved. The 
process of reform must be subject in the execution to this 
plain dictate of justice. All taxations should be limited to 
the requirements of economical government. The neces- 
sary reduction in taxation can and must be effected with- 
out depriving American labor of the ability to compete 
successfully with foreign labor, and without imposing lower 
rates of duty than will be ample to cover any increased 
cost of production which may exist in consequence of the 
higher rate of wages prevailing in this country. SuflScient 
revenue to pay all the expenses of the Federal Government 
economically administered, including pensions, interests 
and principal of the public debt, can be got under our 
present system of taxations from Custom House taxes on 
fewer imported articles, bearing heaviest on articles of 
luxury and bearing lightest on articles of necessity. 

TARIFF REF0R:M. 

We, therefore, denounce the abuse of the existing tariff, 
and subject to the preceding limitations, we demand that 
Federal taxation shall be exclusively for public purposes. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDKICKS. 533 

and shall not exceed the needs of the government economi- 
cally administered. The system of direct taxation, known 
as the ** internal revenue," is a war tax, and so long as the 
law continues, the money derived therefrom should be de- 
voted to the relief of the people from the remaining bur- 
dens of the war, and to be made a fund to defray the ex- 
pense of the care and comfort of worthy soldiers, disabled 
in the line of duty in the wars of the Republic, and for the 
payment of such pensions as Congress may from time to 
time grant to such soldiers; a like fund for the sailors hav- 
ing been already provided, and any surplus should be paid 
into the Treasury. 

EXTENDING TRADE RELATIONS. 

We favor an amendment to the continental policy based 
upon more intimate commercial and political relations with 
the sister republics of North, Central and South America, 
but entangling alliances with none. 

HONEST MONEY. 

We believe in honest money, all the gold and silver coin- 
age of the Constitution, and a circulating medium converti- 
ble to such money without loss. 

EQUAL RIGHTS. 

Asserting the equality of all men before the law, we hold 
that it is the duty of the government in its dealings with 
the people to mete out equal and exact justice to all citizens, 
of whatever nativity, race, color or persuasion, religious or 
political. 

A FREE BALLOT. 

We believe in a free ballot and a fair count and we recall 
to the memory of the people the noble struggle of the 



534 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Democrats in the Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congress by 
which a reluctant Republican opposition was compelled to 
assent to legislation making everywhere illegal the presence 
of troops at the polls as the conclusive proof that a Demo- 
cratic administration will preserve liberty with order. 

TERRITORIAL OFFICERS . 

The selection of Federal officers for the Territories should 
be restricted to citizens previously resident therein. 

SUMPTUARY LAWS. 

We oppose sumptuary laws which vex the citizens and 
interfere with individual liberty. 

We favor honest civil service reform and the compensa- 
tion of United States officers by fixed salaries. 

CHURCH AND STATE. 

The separation of church and state and the diffusion of 
free education by common schools, so that every child in 
the land may be taught the rights and duties of citizenship. 

PROPERTY RIGHTS. 

While we favor all legislation which will tend to the 
equitable distribution of property, to the prevention of 
monopoly and to the strict enforcement of individual rights 
against corporate abuse, we hold that the welfare of society 
depends upon a scrupulous regard for the right of property 
as defined by law. 

IN THE INTEREST OF LABOR. 

We believe that labor is best rewarded where it is freest 
and most enlightened. It should, therefore, be fostered 
and cherished. We favor the repeal of all laws restricting 
the free action of labor and the enactment of laws by which 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 535 

labor organizations may be incorporated, and of all such 
legislation as will tend to enlighten the people as to the true 
relation of capital and labor. 

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. 

We believe that the public lands ought, as far as possible, 
to be kept as homesteads for actual settlers ; that all un- 
earned lands heretofore improvidently granted to railroad 
corporations by the action of the Republican party should 
be restored to the public domain and that no more grants 
of land shall be made to corporations or be allowed to fall 
into the ownership of alien absentees. 

We are opposed to all propositions which, upon any pre- 
text, will convert the general government into a machine 
for collecting taxes to be distributed among the States or 
the citizens thereof. 

PAUPER LABOR. 

In reaffirming the declaration of the Democratic platform 
of 1856, that *'the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson 
in the Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the 
Constitution, which make ours the land of liberty and the 
asylum of the oppressed of every nation, have ever been 
cardinal principles in the Democratic faith," we neverthe- 
less do not sanction the importation of foreign labor or the 
admission of servile races unfitted by habits, training, re- 
ligion, or kindred for absorption into the great body of 
our people, or for the citizenship which our laws consider. 
American civilization demands that against the immigration 
or importation of Mongolians to these shores, our gates be 
closed. The Democratic party insists that it is the duty of 
this government to protect, with equal fidelity and vigilance, 
the rights of its citizens, native and naturalized, at home 



536 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

and abroad, and to the end that this protection may be as- 
sured, United States papers of naturalization issued by 
courts of competent jurisdiction must be respected by the 
Executive and Legislative Departments of our government, 
and by all foreign powers. 

PROTECTION OF CITIZENS. 

It is an imperative duty of this government to efficiently 
protect all the rights of persons and property of every 
American citizen in foreign lands, and demand and enforce 
full reparation for any invasion thereof. An American citi- 
zen is only responsible to his own government for any act 
done in his own country or under her flag, and can only be 
tried therefor on her own soil and according to her laws, 
and no power exists in this government to expatriate an 
American to be tried in any foreign land for any such act. 
This country has never had a well defined foreign policy, 
save under the Democratic administration ; that policy has 
ever been, in regard to foreign nations, so long as they do 
no act detrimental to the interests of the country or hurt- 
ful to our citizens to let them alone ; that as the result of 
this policy we recall the acquisition of Louisiana, Florida, 
California, and of the adjacent Mexican Territory by pur- 
chase alone, and contrast these grand acquisitions of Demo- 
cratic statesmanship with the purchase of Alaska, the sale 
fruit of a Republican administration of nearly a quarter of 
a century. 

THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 

The Federal Government should care for and improve 
the Mississippi River and other great water-ways of the Re- 
public, so as to secure for the United States easy and cheap 
transportation to tide water. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDKICKS. 537 



MERCHANT MARINE. 



Under a long period of Democratic rule and policy, our 
merchant marine was fast overtaking and on the point of 
outstripping that of Great Britain. Under twenty years 
of Republician rule and policy, our commerce has been left 
to British bottoms, and almost has the American flag been 
swept off the high seas. Instead of the Republican party's 
British policy, we demand for the people of the United 
States an American policy. Under Democratic rule and 
policy our merchants and sailors flying the stars and stripes 
in every port, successfully searched out a market for the 
varied products of American industry. Under a quarter 
century of Republican rule and policy, despite our manifest 
advantage over all other nations in high-paid labor, favor- 
able climates and teeming soils ; despite freedom of trade 
among all these United States, despite their population by 
the foremost races of men and an annual immigration of the 
young, thrifty and adventurous of all nations ; despite our 
freedom here from the inherited burdens of life and indus- 
try in old world monarchies, their costly war navies, their 
vast tax-consuming, non-producing standing armies; de- 
spite twenty years of peace, that Republican rule and policy 
have managed to surrender to Great Brittain, along with 
our commerce, the control of the markets of the world. 

AN AMERICAN POLICY. 

Instead of the Republican party's British policy we de- 
mand, in behalf of the American Democracy an American 
policy. Instead of the Republican party's discredited 
scheme and false pretense of friendship for American la- 
bor, expressed by imposing taxes, we demand in behalf of 
the Democracy, freedom for American labor by reducing 



538 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

taxes, to the end that these United States may compete 
with unhindered powers for the primacy among nations in 
all the arts of peace and fruits of liberty. 

A TRIBUTE TO TILDEN. 

With profound regret we have been apprised by the ven- 
erable statesman, through whose person was struck that 
blow at the vital principle of republics (acquiescence in the 
will of the majority), that he cannot permit us again to 
place in his hands the leadership of the Democratic hosts, 
for the reason that the achievement of reform in the ad- 
ministration of the Federal Government is an undertaking 
now too heavy for his age and failing strength. Rejoicing 
that his life has been prolonged until the general judgment 
of our fellow countrymen is united in the wish that wrong 
were righted in his person for the Democracy of the United 
States, we offer to him in his withdrawal from public cares 
not only our respectful sympathy and esteem, but also that 
best homage of freemen the pledge of our devotion to the 
principles and the cause now inseparable, in the history of 
this Republic, from the labors and the name of Samuel J. 
Tilden. 

With this statement of the hopes, principles and purposes 
of the Democratic party, the great issue of reform and 
change in administration is submitted to the people in calm 
confidence that the popular voice will pronounce in favor of 
new men, and new and more favorable conditions for the 
growth of industry, the extension of trade, the emploj^ment 
and due reward of labor and of capital, and the general wel- 
fare of the whole countr3\" 

The reading of the platform was concluded at ten o'clock. 
It was listened to attentively and with very few interrup- 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 539 

tions ; in fact none of its paragraphs except that referring 
to Mr. Tilden was applauded. There was, however, a slight 
manifestation of applause when the reading closed. 

Mr. Morrison said he would yield now to Gen. Butler, to 
present a minority report. He would then allow Gen. 
Butler thirty minutes to discuss his report; fifteen minutes 
to Mr. Converse of Ohio, and five minutes to Mr. Watter- 
son, and then he would move the previous question and ask 
for a vote. 

Gen. Butler said that with most things in the platform he 
agreed; some things ought to be added to it, and one 
thing especially ought to be changed, that he would submit 
to the better jugdment of the Convention. He asked the 
Clerk to read his report. 



540 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 



CHAPTER VI. 

NOMINATIONS IN ORDER. 



CALLING THE ROLL. BRECKENRIDGE OF CALIFORNIA. THURMAN 

OF OHIO, NOMINATED. BEHOLD THE MAN. SECONDED BY 

GEN. WARD. A BATTLE ALREADY WON. THE OLD RED BAN- 
DANNA. AN INTELLECTUAL AJAX. JAMES A. M'KENZIE OF 

KENTUCKY. JOHN G. CARLISLE NAMED. A TALISMANIC NAME. 

HONOR HIS BIRTHRIGHT. A SPLENDID CONTRAST. FACING 

THE AUDIENCE. MASSACHUSETTS CALLED. BUTLER HISSED. 

BAYARD'S NOMINATION SECONDED BY GENERAL HOOKER OF 

MISSISSIPPI. GOVERNOR CLEVELAND NOMINATED. PROMPTLY 

SECONDED. TAMMANY TREACHERY. KELLY'S TOOL, GRADY. 

Nominations of candidates were now in order and the 
roll of States was called. As California was reached a 
young member of the delegation from the Golden State, a 
son of John C. Breckenridge, the famous Vice-President 
and General, came forward, mounted the platform and after 
a hearty round of applause spoke as follows: 

"Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention : By 
inadvertence California was passed in the Democratic Con- 
vention, but we desire to say when the ballots are cast next 
November she will never be passed by a Republican can- 
didate. [Applause.] She has sent us here as her represen- 
tatives, in few and simple words to present for the 
consideration of the Democratic party a man who needs no 
eulogy at your hands, whose name is enshrined in the hearts 
of the whole American people. She has asked us to present 
for your consideration a man whom, if you nominate, we 
believe there is a settled conviction in the hearts of all he 
will be the next President of the United States. Such an 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 541 

election is a sacred trust and a solemn responsibility. There 
never was in the history of the party a rarer or grander 
opportunity to make an appeal to the country. Let us 
present a man of whose integrity and devotion to principle 
there has never been a question ; upon whose character or re- 
putation there has never fallen a shadow or blot or stain ; 
whose ability and learning shall be commensurate with the 
duties of the high office to which we would elevate him. Let 
us nominate such a one and place him side by side with the 
Plumed Knight of Maine and simply say to the American 
people, 'Behold the men ! ' [Applause.] Gentlemen of 
this Convention, we of California believe we can confidently 
turn and say, * Behold the man,' Allen G. Thurman, of 
Ohio. [Loud cheers and applause, several delegates rising 
in their seats and waving their hats.] Of all the honored 
and illustrious names which have been and shall be presented 
for consideration of this Convention, there are none which 
are dearer to the great heart of the American people than 
that lofty statesman who for more than twenty years has 
been the boldest, ablest Democratic advocate of Democratic 
doctrine and Democratic principle. California did not send 
us here to waste our time in eulogy, but simply to present 
his name. One word more. We are told, and it is the 
only objection which has been raised to this man, who, at 
the close of the war, when that strife was vibrating in the 
air, annihilated in the great State of Ohio a Republican 
majority of nearly 40,000 votes, we are told as the only 
objectio-n to him that Ohio is an October State, and our 
reply is, gentlemen, that this is not a State, but a National 
Convention and we are here to select a national candidate." 
[Applause.] 



542 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

By unanimous consent, Gen. Durbin "Ward, of Ohio, 
look the platform and seconded the nomination of Thurman. 
After speaking of Senator Thurman' s long and honorable 
career, Gen. Ward said: 

"Gentlemen, Ohio is the battleground of this Presidential 
election, make what you will of it. [Laughter and ap- 
plause.] You can win without it, but if you carry that 
State in October the battle is already won, and you need 
go no further. [Loud applause.] Mr. President and gen- 
tlemen of this Convention I came here with unstudied 
words, having had no opportunity whatever to make the 
least preparation; but when the Senator, who served twelve 
years in the Congress of the United States, a gentleman 
who was a great lawyer, a ripe jurist when he entered that 
body ; and while he was there, without any disrespect to 
anybody else, whenever a stranger was called on to point 
out a great man, one of the Senate of the United States, he 
invariably pointed to Allen G. Thurman, who carried his 
red bandana handkerchief . [Loud applause.] Gentlemen, 
we are entering upon the battle, the war is on. We want 
no Plumed Knight, clad in holiday armor of tournament 
fighting for his fair lady's braid of hair. You want an 
Ajax, with helmet and spear, to thunder along the line and 
deal death-giving blows to foes w^hom we meet. [Applause.] 
Allen G. Thurman is a man in thought, in intellect, in 
courage, in statesmanship, in adherence to constitutional 
law, in defience of the rights of the masses, in defiance of 
the power of monopoly, in defiance of the corruptions of the 
age. Who to-day stands as the peer of Allen G. Thurman, 
unless it be that man who has passed away from the arena 
of politics, Mr. Tildcn?*' [Applause.] 

When Delaware was called, Mr. Gray of Delaware 



544 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

ascended the platform, and being introduced by the Chair- 
man, said: 

*'Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention: — 
I am instructed to present to you the name of a man worthy 
to receive the nomination for the exalted position of Presi- 
dent of these United States. [Loud applause.] I do so, 
Mr. President and gentlemen, with a deep and realizing 
sense of the great responsibility that rests upon this Con- 
vention, and upon every member of it, to so act that the 
great opportunity that God Himself, we reverently believe, 
has given us, may not pass away unimproved — act that the 
light which illuminates our horizon may not be darkened, 
but may grow and increase into the noon-day splendor of 
victory in November. 

**The career of the Republican party, marked as it has 
been by reckless disregard of every constitutional right and 
every dear right that belongs to the people, fittingly culmi- 
nated in a candidate and platform that were made and de- 
clared in this hall a little more than a month ago. That 
culmination has flung defiance into the face of American 
manhood, and has shocked the consciences of the best men 
of every party. Such a nomination, gentlemen, is a sign 
of the decadence of a great party, not a sign of its increas- 
ing strength. Now, gentlemen, the Democracy of this 
great country demands that you shall give them as a stand- 
ard-bearer in the pending contest one who has been tried in 
the balance and never found wanting. [Applause.] It 
demands a statesman whose wisdom and experience are 
known of all men. [Applause.] It demands a leader whose 
chivalric courage will never falter, [a})plause] and who can 
and will brino; to the dust the Plumed Knio^ht of False Pre- 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 545 

tense and Personal Dishonor. [Applause.] It demands a 
man with high stainless honor, who will strike corruption 
whenever or wherever it shows its head. It demands a man 
with a national record that will bear the electric light of 
hostility. [Applause.] It demands a man with a private 
character that will defy the malignant tongue of slander. 
[Applause.] The Democrats of the United States demand 
a man who shall in public and private character be the very 
antithesis and opposite of the nominee of the Republican 
party. [Applause.] Gentlemen, I speak from my heart, 
I know; but I do not believe that you will think that my 
affections have altogether dispossessed or taken possession 
of my head when I say that the man who has all this and 
more, and whose name I know is now leaping from your 
hearts to your lips, is Thomas Francis Bayard, of Delaware. 
[Great applause.] Why, gentlemen, this Republic, this 
dear country of ouis, was reared by such men as these, and 
the Democratic party will always point with boundless pride 
to his spotless name and his magnificent career. [Applause.] 
Who, I ask, has defended that great palladium of our lib- 
erties, the rights of the States, more gallantly than he? 
W^hen did his voice ever fail, on any great question that con- 
cerned the interests and honor of this country, to utter 
words of wisest counsel, or to combat what he knew to be 
false? How can you afford, gentlemen of the Democratic 
party, to pass him by? [Applause.] What account will 
you give the Democracy who sent you here if you should 
meet the challenge of our opponents by failing to emblazon 
his name on our banners? [Applause.] What will you 
say to the people over this great land who are now anxiously 
looking to the deliberation of this Convention, and waiting 
to see the lightning of events flash to the uttermost corners 



546 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

of this Union that name which will be answered in the battle 
of honest and pure government? [Applause.] 

* 'Gentlemen of the Convention, with Bayard as your 
candidate you will make no mistake. The choice of his 
name will still the voice of faction [cheers] and close up 
the ranks of the Democracy in every State. He will carry 
every doubtful State, and he will make those States doubt= 
ful that were never doubtful before. [Cheers.] Enthusi- 
asm will take the place of apathy and will grow and still 
grow as the autumn leaves are falling, until the dreaded 
November is made bright by the peans of our victory." 
[Cheers.] 

After Mr Gray concluded, the Secretary proceeded to 
the calling of the roll until the State of Kentucky was 
reached, when Mr. Jas. A. McKenzie of Kentucky arose 
and presented the name of John G. Carlisle as a candidate 
in the following words: 

'*Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the National Con- 
vention — I desire in the name of the State that will jrive 
50,000 majority to the nominee of this Convention [ap- 
plause] to place in nomination for the highest office within 
the reach of human ambition the name of the present dis- 
tinguished Speaker of the American Congress, John G. 
Carlisle. [Cheers.] In all essential characteristics — man- 
liness, and courage, and ability, and patriotism, — he is the 
peer of any great name that will be mentioned in this great 
Convention. [Applause.] The Presidency of the United 
States is a position of such transcendent honor and dignity 
and responsibility that only such as those whose names the 
Republic delights to honor should be named in the Conven- 
tion. His ill health has compelled the retirement from the 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 547 

arena of politics of the Sage of Graystone. [Applause.] 
No name carries with it more of talismanic charm and re- 
spect of the American people than that of John G. Carlisle. 
It behooves this Convention in the great exigency of our 
National affairs and when it seems to me that we have but 
to pluck the success that is in our sight, that we should 
name for the great offce of President a man not born for 
the smaller, selfish schemes, but a man to whom dishonor is 
unknown, a man made up of greatness; one who brings the 
victor's birthright in his name alone. Such a man is John 
G. Carlisle. [Applause.] 

'*Tt may be urged, gentlemen, that he comes from the 
wrong side of the river, but, my God ! if the statute of 
limitation ever is to run against that, it ought to begin now. 
[Applause.] I belong to a class of men who believe the 
war is over. [Applause.] I belong to a class of men who 
believe that there is as much honor, and virtue, and patriot- 
ism in the South as there is anywhere else on God's earth. 
[Applause.] I appeal to the sentiment of this Convention, 
representing the intelligence of the Democracy of America, 
if I come before it with any unnatural plea when I ask you 
to reco2:nize that the arbitrament of the sword has settled 
the war, and we present you a peace offering in the person 
of John G. Carlisle. 

" Carlisle and the Republican party present a contrast to 
which I would like to invite the attention of this Convention. 
One a combination and a form indeed where, if ever, a God 
had seemed to set his seal to give the world assurance of a 
man; the other, leprous with accusation, and covered and 
tattooed all over with bribery, fraud and corruption. The 
Democratic party, under Carlisle's leadership, would become 
the antithesis of everything which the worst elements of the 



548 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Republican party advocate and espouse, and God knows there 
are worse elements in that party than in any other party on 
the face of the earth. [Laughter and applause.] That 
party would represent the spirit of order rather than the 
genius of riot, it would represent the dominion of law 
rather than the recklessness of license, it would represent 
a betterment of our civil service rather than the longer con- 
tinuance of a reign of spoils and jobbery." 

The speaker had been directing most of his remarks to 
the Chairman, and there were loud cries for him to turn 
around and face his audience. The speaker continued, but 
apparently not understanding what was wanted, he again 
faced the Speaker and continued : 

''It would appeal to the conservatism of the country, with 
the announcement that the Presidency should be regarded 
as a great public trust and not as a personal perquisite." 

At this point the demands of the audience became so 
vociferous that the speaker turned around and faced them. 
He inquired of the Chairman what was wanted, who replied 
that they wanted him to face the audience. He then came 
forward, and in a voice to be heard all over the house, said: 
. *'All right; I ain't afraid to face you. [Laughter and 
applause.] It would announce that corporations should be 
under the dominion of the law, and not that the law and 
lawmakers be under the dominion of the corporations ; that 
cur lost commerce should be restored to its rightful place 
on the high seas — [cheers] — rather than that our sailorless 
ships should fall down piecemeal and our carrying trade 
come and go in foreign bottoms. Above all and above 
everything, it would announce that the war taxes should be 
put on a peace basis, rather than that peace taxes should 
be continued on a war basis. It would announce that our 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 549 

public domain should be utilized as homes for American 
people [cheers], rather than as seignories for foreign syndi- 
cates and railroad corporations [cheers], and it would an- 
nounce to the country that there should be demanded hon- 
esty, capacity and integrity of every person intrusted with 
political power or public place [cheers], rather than the 
longer continuance of a civil service in which personal fealty 
is the highest test of qualifications, and in which dishonesty 
and incompetency are not infrequent exceptions to the gen- 
eral rule. I invoke upon this National Convention the spirit 
of peace and harmony. Will you have need of 50,000 Ken- 
tucky votes when you come to make up the sum total of 
the result in November? I uroe Mr. Carlisle's claim with 
less hesitation when I reflect that of the 201 electoral 
votes necessary to secure a Democratic President we propose 
in the South to furnish you 153 of them and not charge you 
a cent for them. [Laughter and applause.] We are all a 
Democratic family. Do not let us fall out about questions 
of detail. I want to see this country sectionized on parallels 
of longitude as well as on parallels of latitude. I want to 
live to see the time, and I believe I will live to see that time, 
when the spirit of such confraternity will exist between the 
sections, North and South, as to obliterate all unpleasant 
memories of the war. [Applause.] I have read in English 
history that when the forces of Oliver Cromwell were lying 
upon their arms awaiting battle they were frequently en- 
gaged in angry disputation concerning matters of faith. But 
when the order to charsje came down that line from Old 
Ironsides, with the forces of Prince Rupert in front, they 
forgot their differences and had no thought but victory until 
success crowned the arms of the Protectorate. The honor- 
able gentleman, the Chairman of this great Convention, will 



550 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

shortly give to this Democratic host the command to charge 
all along the line. [Applause.] 

'^Laying aside, then, all differences, all dissensions, all 
bickerings and all strife, let us charge the Kepublican party 
front and rear, and with John G. Carlisle at the head of 
the column, win such a victory as was won by the Puritan 
soldiery over the forces of Charles at Naseby and Marston." 
[More applause.] 

When the State of Massachusetts, which came next on 
the list, was called and Mr. Abbott of that State arose, 
hisses and demonstrations of dissent were audible upon all 
sides. These demonstrations were caused by the fear that 
the mountebank and demagogue Butler would be put in 
nomination. 

Mr. Abbott, of Massachusetts: — '*Mr. Chairman: Mas- 
sachusetts presents no name for nomination at this time." 

The States of Michigan and Minnesota were called, no 
response being made. 

When Mississippi was reached, Mr. Walthall, of that 
State, said the State of Mississippi, through the Hon. 
Charles E. Hooker, desired to second the nomination of the 
Hon. Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware. 

Gen. Hooker, who carried one coat sleeve on his breast, 
was received with cheers and made an eloquent speech in 
behalf of Bayard. After referring to the different cand- 
idates already presented, he said: 

** We of the South have come here for the purpose of 
uniting in making a nomination with our fellow-Democrats 
all over the Union which shall achieve a Democratic victory 
in November next [applause], and as we take our ground, 
we take our position, not because we have special favorites, 
but because we are looking to a nomination that may com- 



^<^ x^EVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 551 

pact together upon principles asserted in our platform and 
upon candidates nominated by the Democracy of this whole 
Union. [Loud applause.] It is said that Thomas F. 
Bayard comes from a small State. Aye, but, gentlemen of 
the Convention, in his own person he has a heart large 
enough and a head big enough to embrace the whole Union 
from sea to sea. [Applause.] We want a nomination 
made here upon principles which shall command success ; 
we want a nomination made of a man whose record is so 
fair that it is utterly and entirely unassailable ; we want the 
nomination of a man who stands upon the great financial 
question in an attitude of acceptability to every portion 
of this widespread country; we want a man who, upon the 
tariff question, stands upon a firm, safe, middle ground, 
between the impracticability of free trade upon the one 
side and the equally unconstitutional doctrine of protection 
upon the other. [Loud applause.] 

" We do not intend, I hope, that the great Democratic 
Convention of the nation shall be split in two by the quar- 
rels anywhere had upon the question of the tariff. We in- 
tend to make the plank broad enough for us all to stand 
upon and desert no principle in maintaining it." 

" Gen. Hooker's speech was received with great applause. 
Motions to adjourn and to take a recess were ruled out of 
order, and the Secretary proceeded with the call of the roll. 

AYhen the State of New York was reached, Mr. Manning 
of New York, arose and said: *'Mr. Chairman, New York 
presents the name of Gov. Cleveland, and desires to be 
heard through Daniel Lockwood, of Buffalo. 

Mr. Lockwood spoke as follows: 

*'Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention. — 
It is with no ordinary feeling of responsibility that I appear 



552 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OE 

before this Convention as a representative of the Democ- 
racy of the State of New York — [applause] — for the pur- 
pose of placing in nomination a gentleman from the State 
of New York as a candidate for the Presidency of the United 
States. This responsibility is made greater when I remem- 
ber that the richest pages of American history have been 
made up from the records of Democratic administration. 
[Applause.] This responsibility is made still greater when 
I remember that the only blot in the political history done 
at Washington, an outrage upon the rights of the American 
people, was in 187(3, and that in that outrage and that in- 
jury to justice is still unavenged [applause], and this re- 
sponsibility is not lessened when I recall the fact that the 
gentleman whose name I have presented to you is a politi- 
cal associate fi'om my youth. Beside we have marched to 
the tune of Democratic music, side by side have we studied 
the principles of Jefferson and Jackson, and love the faith 
in which we believe, and during all this time he has occupied 
the position of a private citizen, yet always true and always 
faithful to Democratic principles. 

*'No man has greater respect or admiration for the 
honored names which have been presented to this Conven- 
tion than myself, but, gentlemen, the world is moving, 
and moving rapidly, from the North to the South. New 
men, men who have acted but little in politics, are coming 
to the front. [Applause.] To-day there are hundreds and 
thousands of young men in this country, men who are to 
cast their first vote, men who are independent in politics, 
and they are looking to this Convention, praying silently 
that there shall be no mistake made here. They want to 
drive the Republican party from power, they want to cast 
their votes for a Democrat in whom they believe. [Ap- 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 553 

plause.] These people know from the record of the gentle- 
man whose name I shall present, that Democracy with him 
means honest government, pure government and the pro- 
tection of the rights of the people of every class and every 
condition. 

*'A little more than three years ago I had the honor, at 
the city of Buffalo, to present the name of the same 
gentleman for the office of Mayor of that city. It was pre- 
sented then for the same reason, the same causes thnt we pre- 
sent it now. It was because the government of that city 
had become corrupt and had become debauched, and political 
integrity sat not in high places. The people looked for 
a man who would represent the contrary, andwithout any 
hesitation they named Grover Cleveland as the man." 

[At this point there was a wild burst of applause, some 
of the New York delegation, practically the entire Wiscon- 
sin delegation and some few scattering delegates stood up 
and made all the demonstrations possible in Cleveland's 
favor. As soon as the uproar subsided and comparative 
order was regained, Mr. Lockwood continued.] 

*'The result of that election and his holding that office was, 
that in less than nine months the State of New York found 
herself in a position to want just such a candidate -and for 
such a purpose; and when at the Convention in 1882, his 
name was placed in nomination for the office of Governor 
of the State of New York, the same people, the same class 
of people knew that that meant honest government, it meant 
pure government, it meant Democratic government, and it 
was ratified by the people [cheers] ; and, gentlemen, now 
after eighteen months' service there the Democracy of the 
State of New York come to you and ask you to give to the 
country, to give independent and Democratic voters of the 



554 LIFE AJ^D PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

country, to give young men of the county the new blood 
of the country, and I present the name of Grover Cleveland 
as its standard bearer for the next four years. 

''I shall indulge in no eulogy of Mr. Cleveland; I shall 
not attempt any further description of his political career. 
It is known, his Democracy is known, his statesmanship is 
known throughout the length and breadth of this land, and 
all I ask of this Convention is, let no passion, no prejudice 
influence their duty which they owe to the people of this 
country. Be not deceived. Gov. Cleveland can give the 
Democratic party the thirty-six votes of the State of New 
York on election day. He can by his purity of character, 
by his purity of administration, by his fearless and un- 
daunted courage to do right, bring to you more votes than 
any body else. 

"Gentlemen of the Convention, but one word more: Mr. 
Cleveland's candidacy before this Convention is offered 
upon the ground of his honor, his integrity, his wisdom and 
his Democracy. [Cheers.] Upon that ground we ask it, be- 
lieving that if ratified by this Convention he can be elected, 
and take his seat at Washington as a Democratic President 
of the United States." 

Cleveland's NOMINATION seconded. 

Senator Grady, of New York, tried to catch the eye of 
the Chairman, but the Chair recognized Mayor Carter Har- 
rison of Chicago, assuring Mr. Grady that he would be rec- 
ognized in his turn. Mr. Harrison made a speech second- 
ino' the nominatinsr of Mr. Cleveland. When he had con- 
eluded there were cries of "Kelly" and some confusion. 
The Chair recognized Mr. Richard A. Jones, of Minnesota, 
who also seconded the nomination of Mr. Cleveland. 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 555 



CHAPTER VII. 

NOMINATIONS CONTINUED. 



HENDRICKS OF INDIANA. A BURST OF ENTHUSIASM. CHEERS FOR 

THE OLD TICKET. M'DONALD NOMINATED. DELICATE AND 

IMPORTANT DUTIES. REPUBLICAN EXCESSES. NEED OF HON- 
ESTY AND ECONOMY. A VAST STANDING ARMY. STUPENDOUS 

FRAUDS. THE SENTIMENT OF '76. THE PEER OF THE PROUD- 
EST. ANOTHER STORM OF APPLAUSE. COL. THOMAS E. POWELL. 

HOADLY, OF OHIO, NOMINATED. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE 

BUCKEYE STATE AN ACKNOWLEDGED LEADER. SENATOR 

WALLACE, OF PENNSYLVANIA. SAMUEL J. RANDALL NOMINATED. 

PROMPTLY SECONDED. 

Florida, Georgia and Illinois were called. When the 
State of Indiana was called loud cheers rent the air and 
Mr. Menzie, of that State, arose and said: "The Indiana 
delegation has requested the Hon. Thos. A. Hendricks to 
present, in the name of Indiana, a candidate for President." 

Mr. Hendricks came forward amid a perfect outburst of 
enthusiasm, lasting several minutes. Upon the subsidence 
of a wild gallery, a delegate with a voice like a rolling-mill, 
shouted; "Three cheers for the old ticket," and they were 
given with extraordinary vigor. 

The Chair: — Gentlemen of the Convention, we will best 
justify the exalted respect we all feel for the gentleman 
from Indiana by aiding him with his task with your pro- 
found silence. I have the honor to present Hon. Thomas 
A. Hendricks, who will make a nomination in behalf of 
Indiana. 

Mr. Hendricks said: 

"Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention: 
This is my first experience as a delegnte in a National 



5^G LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Convention, and as I rise to present the name of a dis- 
tinguished citizen of Indiana in connection with the office 
of President of the United States, I feel the delicacy and 
the great responsibility of the duty I have undertaken. The 
people now demand a change in the management of Federal 
affairs, and if this Convention will give them half an oppor- 
tunity they will execute that purpose in the election of a 
President in the coming fall. 

"I believe the nominee of this Convention will soon be- 
come the chosen President of the United States. [Cheers.] 
He will be the first inaugurated President for twenty-four 
years. [Cheers.] He will come in burdened with all the 
duties that usually belong to the high office, and in addition 
such duties and delicate responsibilities as belong to the 
transfer of public affairs from the representatives of one 
party to the representatives of another, after long control 
by the latter. 

*'May I ask your attention while I briefly refer to some 
of the labor and responsibilities that will require courage, 
talent and strength on the part of the next President of the 
United States? The Constitution imposes upon the Presi- 
dent the duty of making such recommendations to Congress 
of such measures as he shall deem important and necessary. 
How delicate and important that duty becomes. The Pres- 
ident is clothed with this authority by the Constitution, the 
Constitution imposing it upon him. Cons^ress will heed his 
recommendation with great care. When Congress con- 
vened last December revenues were annually accumulating 
in excess of the demands of an economical government at 
the rate of over $50,000,000 a year. That, too, under a 
revenue system that had been adjusted within one year by 
the Republican party. When the accumulated gold over- 



CLEVELAXD AND HENDRICKS. 557 

flows the vaults of the Treasury and tempts extravagant, 
wasteful and sometimes corrupt legislation, who can ques- 
tion that revenue reform is the first duty of a successful 
party? [Cheers.] And if a Democratic House had been 
received by a President in harmony with it, recommending 
a well-considered system of revenue reform, eliminating 
vices that nestle in existing laws, and reducing very 
largely the amount of the revenue, does any man doubt 
that now there would have been a great relief from the 
burden of excessive taxation, and that we would have had 
a system of revenue resting upon justice and fair play? 

'* Foremost among the duties and obligations which this 
great Convention should admonish its nominee to represent 
is that the laws be executed, and that the expenditures be 
greatly reduced. Shall the vast standing army of 120 regi- 
ments continue under Democratic rules? [Cries of " no."] 
At the close of the war I believe 60,000 were found suffi- 
cient to execute the civil service. The official register, as a 
matter of course, was somewhat increased, and it should 
not excite our special wonder; but when from 60,000, in 
the course of twenty years, it shall advance to 120,000, it 
bids the Democracy pause. The supernumeraries must be 
dismissed; unnecessary employments discontinued. And 
in this connection may I not say that the people whom you 
represent will stand like a stone wall beside the next Presi- 
dent in his endeavor to promote economy and general re- 
form? Eight years ago our party declared at St. Louis 
that reform is necessary in the civil service, and it demanded 
a change of system, a change of administration, a change of 
party, that we might have a change of measures and of men. 
[Applause.] The experience of every year has since con- 
firmed that declaration and streno^thened the demands. It 



558 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

is but two weeks ago that a Secretary, standing upon the 
witness stand in the presence of a Senate committee to hear 
testimony to impeach one of the bureaus in his own depart- 
ment — it was in the Department of Medicine and Surgery 
— said that the false vouchers, he supposed, did not exceed 
$63,000. In former times, when the sensibilities of the 
people became offended by oflScial corruption, they them- 
selves understood the work of reform. I dare say many 
of you bear it in memory that an entire administration 
went down with it, because of the defalcation or embezzle- 
ment of $62,000. That was but forty years ago, and that 
was the only case that occurred attracting attention during 
that adminstration. Yet, so fearful was the punishment by 
the people, that the party went from power for the time 
being. Who expects that a party long in power, with all 
the emoluments of public position received and enjoyed by 
its followers and retainers, can reform itself? The recent 
case to which I have referred is very instructive. In that 
testimony, the Secretary said that a year ago he had received 
a letter informing him of the misconduct of one of the 
employes, and that very recently he had been told of two 
others engaged in the nefarious transactions; but he said to 
the committee that so earnest was the pressure, especially 
by members of Congress, for reappointment of the head 
of the bureau, that he could not believe it possible that his 
bureau was in the condition in which he found it at last. 
The offences against the public sevice are numerous, many 
of them flagrant. They nmst be pursued to their hiding 
places. They must be brought forth and exposed and pun- 
ished, and. the agents that the President will employ — I 
mean the new President that you are to nominate here — the 
agents that he shall employ must have no one to shield and 



560 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

nothing to conceal. Let fidelity and competency once more 
on the part of employes and justice and fair play, so far as 
the people of the country are concerned, be observed, and 
reforms will follow. I hope never again to see the cruel 
and remorseless proscription for political opinions which 
has disgraced recent administrations. 

''But bad as the civil service is, I know that there are men 
of tried fidelity in it. I know that there are men of ability 
in the present service, and I would not ask that they should 
be driven from oflSce ; but none but such ought to be con- 
tinued. In the language of a writer, when we come to de- 
fine the rights of the outs and those that are in, let it be un- 
derstood that none but the fittest shall survive. [Applause.] 

"Now, Mr. President,! hope the new administration will 
hold itself instructed by the sentiment of 1876 [cheers] in 
opposition to centralization, to that dangerous spirit of en- 
croachment which tends to consolidation in one, and thus 
create the form of government. 

"I have but one other sentiment to refer to before I shall 
call your attention to the claims which I propose to suggest 
for the man that I will nominate, and in respect to this senti- 
ment no one is responsible but myself. Nations never 
devise a more rational umpire of difference than force. 
Much blood and treasure always flow before international 
controversies can be settled; controversies will arise — they 
are inevitable — but the civilization of this age demands that 
they be referred to the disinterested States for settlement 
by friendly arbitration. The intervening ocean protects 
our young Republic from the menace of European arms. It 
Avill be a beautiful spectacle when this Republic, so strong 
and so secure, shall lead the nations in a movement for per- 
manent peace and the relief of the people everywhere from 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 561 

the maintenance of standing armies and ships of war. The 
best of Gen. Grant's administration was settling by arbi- 
tration the controversies touching the AUibamas. That set- 
tlement stands in bright, glorious contrast in all history to 
the use that he himself made of our own army when he be- 
leagued the capital, that men might have offices to which 
they were never elected. [Loud applause.] 

*'Mr. President and Gentlemen, I have to suggest for 
your consideration a citizen of the State of Indiana, the 
Hon. Joseph E. McDonald. [Loud and long-continued 
applause.] I thank you for this reception you have given 
to his name. Born in an adjoining State, Indiana became 
his home when but a boy. He learned a trade, and that 
made him self-independent and very respectable [applause] , 
and after that he pursued his studies with such opportunities 
as he had, and finally prepared himself for the great profes- 
sion of the law ; and from the time that he took his stand 
in the court-house of his county until the present time, 
when he may stand, it may be, in the Supreme Court of the 
United States, he has been the peer of the best of that pro- 
fession in the West. [Loud applause.] First, he was 
solicited by the district in which he lived to prosecute the 
pleas of the State ; afterward chosen by the State to rep- 
resent her as the Attorney General; next — not next to 
that, but before that — he went from his own district, in 
which he was raised from boyhood, to the Congress of the 
United States, and afterward the people of the whole State 
sent him as a Senator to Washington. Faithfully, diligent- 
ly, ably, for six years he represented Indiana in the Senate. 
He was welcomed by the ablest of the Senators as their 
peer. Mr. McDonald has been a student of the learning 
that has made the Democracy of the United States what it 



562 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

is to-day. [Loud applause.] He is familiar -with the 
writings of the fathers, and his opinions are based upon the 
sentiments that came to him from their pages. He is of 
clear perception, of strong judgment, of earnest convic- 
tions, fair minded and just. If you shall honor him with 
your nomination, no man will have occasion to find fault 
with the candid and frank manner of his reception when he 
may go to the White House. 

* 'Gentlemen of the Convention, I do not speak for Mc- 
Donald alone. I do not speak for myself alone. I do not 
speak for those thirty gentlemen who directed me to stand 
here and speak for them. I speak for a mighty State. 
[Loud and long-continued applause.] But ten days ago a 
Democracy that never steps backward, a Democracy that 
meets the contest when and where it may [applause], in- 
structed those thirty gentlemen and myself to say to you, 
Joseph E. McDonald is worthy of your consideration as 
the candidate for President of the United States, [Loud 
applause.] What is Indiana and what is the Democracy of 
Indiana? This mighty State, that is neither of the East nor 
of the West, but sitting midway between the East and 
West, resting upon Ohio, associating in commerce, in trade, 
in good neighborship, with adjoining States, this great 
State has said to us : 'Present the name of Mr. McDonald 
to the greatest convention the world has ever seen' [ap- 
plause], and for Indiana I make my appeal to you to-day. 
What heed will you give to Indiana? For twenty-five 
years, during which I have had some responsible connec- 
tion with this great party, she has been without strife or 
discord in her ranks. [Applause.] She acted always as 
one man, and when the election days have come, the tread 
' her Democracy has been as the tread of one regiment 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 563 

when the hour of battle is at hand. [Applause.] You 
know very well, gentlemen, that Indiana makes no ques- 
tion whether your candidate shall livt in New York, or 
Deleware or Kentucky. You know very well that when the 
crisis comes Indiana will give him her vote Are you going 
to make it against Indiana because she is so faithful, be- 
cause she will not hesitate? Are you to say from election 
to election, from convention to convention: 'We need 
not trouble about that solid State. fcJhe is all right. Her 
vote will go well at the election. We must take care— roh, 
just by the way of illustration — we must take care of New 
York.' [Great laughter and applause.] Is that where, as 
a representative of the Democracy of Indiana, these thirty 
gentlemen and myself have to stand in your presence? 
We ask not a favor, because Indiana is true always, but we 
ask that that shall not come in judgment against her. 
[Applause.] When many of your States hesitate, when 
war had passed, when the smoke of battle had blown away, 
and the sound of guns upon the plains and among the 
mountains had ceased, and you struggled and we struggled, 
Indiana was the first State to carry the banner of Democ- 
racy to the front, 

* * And now, gentlemen, a man of good attainments, of high 
character, indorsed by my State, I present his name to 
you, and all I ask is justice, the humblest of us may ask 
that much ; and when it shall come to be that m a Demo- 
cratic Convention justice may not be asked, then perhaps 
I had better review the practices of the past and not come 
to conventions at all. [Laughter and applause.] I thank 
you, brother Democrats, I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for 
the attention you have given me while I have spoken for a 
friend." [Great and continued applause; a great number 



564 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

of delegates rising to their feet and swinging their hats etc.] 
When Ohio was called, Mr. John K. McClean, of Ohio, 
said: Mr. President Ohio asks that permission be granted 
to Colonel Thomas E. Powell to present the name of 
George Hoardly, of Ohio, [Applause.] 
Colonel Powell spoke as follows: 

*'Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention: 
The auspicious moments with which we are to-day sur- 
rounded clearly indicate that the time which is to make the 
final overthrow of the Republican party is now at hand. 
[Applause.] If this Convention shall be true to itself and 
faithful to its party, judicious in its platform and wise in 
its candidates, our success in the coming struggle is already 
assured. As we enter upon such a contest wisdom demands 
that he who is to be our leader shall be able to win the first 
great engagement of the campaign, and if possible, settle 
it in October. In a few weeks this whole nation will be 
anxiously watching the vanguards of the party as they 
struggle for liberty and supremacy in Ohio. He who doubts 
the courage, honor, patriotism and the ultimate success of 
Democracy there has forgotten the record of that great 
State. At her admission Ohio ranked as the sixteenth 
State. To-day she stands the third State in this Union. 
In that great period, in the great race of life, in wealth and 
in population Ohio has already passed thirteen of her sister 

States. Her progress in your cause has been still more mar- 
velous. Within a few years she has overthrown and de- 
stroyed forever a Republican majority of upwards of one 
hundred thousand [loud applause], and in its stead, in two 
successive campaigns, she has recorded large majorities in 
favor of her candidates and to the credit of her cause. At 
this hour her home government and all her destinies are in 
the keeping of your great party. 



THOMAS A. HENDKICKS. 565 

*'The man who had been the acknowledged leader of the 
redemption of that State, as well as one of the foremost 
citizens in all her border, is a candidate we now present to 
the thoughtful consideration of this Convention — Governor 
George Hoadly, of Ohio. [Applause.] Our hope in him 
rests not upon faith, but upon recorded history and accom- 
plished facts. As a candidate he has never been defeated 
at the polls. [Applause.] In the memorable contest of 
last year, upon a full vote, and when Ohio was fighting the 
first fight in this contest, he received the largest indorse 
ment ever given to a Democrat in Ohio [applause], receiving 
nineteen thousand more votes than your great leader of the 
last Presidential contest, the soldier-statesman, Winfield 
Scott Hancock. [Applause.] 

*' George Hoadly is known to the nation as a great law- 
yer, as a wise statesman, as a fearless and aggressive leader. 
He is a man of acknowledged ability, of undoubted integ- 
rity, a man of courage as well as of wisdom. His whole 
public and private life is without a stain and without a 
scandal. Whenever and wherever he has been tried he has 
been found stronger than his party, and as pure as his cause. 
He has been the chosen advocate of our party in denouncing 
and condemning the great fraud of 1877. [Applause.] 
Since that day up to this hour George Hoadly has been the 
friend and confidential adviser, and to-day would make a 
worthy successor of that illustrious Democratic President, 
Samuel J. Tilden. [Applause.] Under his leadership, un- 
der his banner, we can save Ohio to ourselves in October, 
and i^ive it to vou in November. Under his leadershiy-) Ohio 
can enter the race for the crowning glory at the polls. She 
can struggle with all her sisters to make her borders the 
hearth-stone of free institutions and the central home of 



566 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

Democracy in this great Union. Under him Ohio can strike 
the first successful blow in that victory which, under the 
providence of God, will commit fifty millions of people to 
the i)rotection of our great party." [Applause.] 

SAMUEL J. RANDALL. 

The Secretary proceeded with the call. When Pennsyl- 
vania was reached Senator Wallace took the platform amid 
great applause and spoke as follows : 

•'Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention: 
By direction of the Pennsylvania delegation I arise to pre- 
sent to the Democracy of the Republic here assembled the 
name of a candidate for the great office of President of the 
United States. The name I give you is found upon every 
page of your country's and your party's history in the last 
two decades. [Applause.] It is that of no untried tyro 
in political affairs. [Slight applause.] In the prime and 
vigor of his mature manhood, with every faculty trained in 
pnictical government, an official life of twenty years be- 
hind him, clear, luminous and pure, no dishonest action, no 
corrupt practices have ever stained his escutcheon. [Ap- 
plause.] And while most of his contemporaries in official 
life have grown rich through devious and unknown ways, 
he is still a poor man, whose highest aim has been to fitly 
serve his people and the Ropublic. 

"Democrats, the hour has struck for the nomination of a 
Democrat grounded in the faith [applause] and tried in the 
stern crucible of his party's service. [Applause.] The 
path way of expediency lies behind us strewn with the 
wrecks of our failures. Let us be honest now. Let us 
stand ^y the recoA'd of our own pure public men. Let us 
boldly appeal to the people upon that record, and spurn the 



CLEVELAND AND HENDRICKS. 567 

delusive promises of our erstwhile bitter foes. [Applause.] 

''The name of such a man we bring you. His practical 
hand, his experienced foresight and his conversance with 
public affairs will lay the foundations of your return to 
power so broad, so high, so deep that they will be perma- 
nent. [Applause.] He has been practically the leader in 
the National House of Representatives for twelve years 
[applause], and his career there has been a vast public bene- 
fit. Favorinor a reduction of taxation and an economical 
administration of the government, he has, with skill and 
success, resisted the lavish expenditure of the money of the 
people, the waste of the public domain, and unconstitutional 
and tyrannical force bills. His iron will has put the knife 
to corrupting extravagance, and compelled a return to 
comparative purity of administration. Earnest in purpose, 
pure in life, a trained tribune of the people and a thorough 
statesman, no favor sways him, and no fear can awe. 

'*This man, her son, Pennsylvania presents to the De- 
mocracy of the Union here assembled in Convention as her 
candidate for the mighty office of President of the United 
States in the person of Samuol J. Randall." [Cheers.] 
Randall's NOJ'/iNATiON seconded. 

Mr. Cleveland, of New Jersey: — "Mr. Chairman, upon 
the call of the roll of the States yesterday, when the name 
of New Jersey was called she was silent, but on behalf of a 
portion of the delegation from New Jersey it is desired that 
Governor Abbot of that State shall now second the name of 
Hon. Samuel J. Randall [cheers], and I respectfully ask 
from this Convention unanimous consent for that sec- 
onding." 

Governor Abbott, of New Jersey, seconded the nomina- 
tion of Randall. He said that there was a conviction in the 



568 LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES OF 

land that if wisdom controls the councils of the Democratic 
party in making a platform broad enough for every Demo- 
crat to stand upon, and in placing upon it a candidate of 
transcendent ability and pure life, success lies in the results 
of their deliberations. He believed that Samuel J. Randall 
as the candidate would reach the controlling vote in the 
pivotal States more certainly than any other man named. 
He asked, where does success lie? Not in Minnesota, not 
in Iowa or other of the confirmed Republican States, but in 
those close States which were carried by Tilden in 1876. 

He reviewed the arguments urged for Cleveland, and said 
these all applied to Thurman, Bayard and others. Then 
what excuse in putting aside these grand Democratic veter- 
ans for a new man? The record of Randall is pure and 
stainless, while his public career for twenty years has been 
in behalf of an economical and honest government. These 
are practical efforts for reform. Randall would sweep New 
Jersey like a great political cyclone. He is the friend of 
laborers everywhere, and the Convention could do no better 
than nominate him. 



31^ 



